Falling
by Twyla Mercedes
Summary: Rumbelle romance AU set in a vaguely steampunk time and place with airships and steamcars and nanomites and Gauss rifles and Tesla particle cannons and good guys who may be bad guys and bad guys who may be good guys.
1. A Interview and an Encounter

**Falling **

**Chapter One: An Interview and An Encounter**

At last, someone with a brain.

Belle stood on the balcony of her bedroom in the great castle. She couldn't be more excited that Mary, her very best friend ever, was coming for an extended visit.

Belle knew that her friend had been growing increasingly unhappy in her own home. Since her father's remarriage to a woman not so much older than herself, things had become increasingly tense.

The marriage had started off well enough for this type of thing. The older king marrying a young woman in the hopes of producing a male heir. The young woman was said to be quite beautiful; although there were plenty village wags who shared that, despite the resemblance, she was not a beautiful as Mary's mother had been, as Mary would be.

After a couple of years, and no offspring, the rumors had begun. The rumors had reached even sheltered Belle's ears. The pretty, young wife had grown weary of the paltry, ineffective attentions of an old man. Now the wags told of infidelity, consorting with low-lifes, long weekend parties at the summer palace - parties fueled by drugs, alcohol and sex.

The relationship between step-mother and step-daughter had become strained. Mary had shared with Belle that she had become concerned that her step-mother might actually try to hurt her father. And once, she had told Belle, she had even tried to share her concerns with her father, but he had laughed them off.

Belle figured that this latest visit had been precipitated by Mary catching her step-mother in an illicit embrace (or something worse) with one of her guards or one of her father's courtiers or some criminal thuggee. The step-mother was said to have actually encouraged the air pirates to seek refuge in Mary's country. It was a mutually advantageous system for her step-mother, getting a percentage of loot as a pay-off from the pirates and, for the pirates, having a safe harbor in easy flying distance.

Belle hated what was going on in Mary's life but admitted to herself that she was glad Mary had some excuse for coming to see her. She adored Mary. She could talk with Mary. Mary understood her. Mary had a brain in her head and could converse about more than just which shade of silk was popular this season and which hair frou-frou was the most flattering for her face shape. Mary could talk about books and ideas. She had traveled more than Belle who had never been more than fifty miles from her father's castle. Mary was able to shoot a bow and arrow and saddle a horse, but she could also embroider a buillon stitch and play the pianoforte. Belle could do none of that, well none of that well. Her best talent, perhaps only talent, was her artistic ability. She could draw lifelike pictures of her friends and often did small renditions that would fit in lavalieres. Her friends would then give the tiny likenesses of themselves to would-be suitors.

Mary's visit was going to be so much fun.

000-000-000

"Talk to me. What do you know?"

Captain James Nolan-Spencer, the Marquees of Abernathy, illegitimate, but acknowledged son and heir of his Grace, the Lord Duke George Spencer of North Wickham, shifted in his chair. He wasn't at his most comfortable talking with the intellectual type. And this man was certainly brilliant. There were enough diplomas on the walls. Schools that James recognized: Yale, Cambridge, Sorbonne. How many degrees did the man have? His office was plush without being ostentatious. Comfortable. Designed to be restful, to relax visitors. _So they would let down their guard. _The receptionist had offered him tea, a brandy, water or coffee. He'd taken the brandy. _This was not going to be easy._

The man, the doctor, was nice. Not threatening like some of the other interviewers had been. He seemed to genuinely want to hear what James had to say. James supposed this was part of his method. _What was it? Good cop. Bad cop. He was the good cop._

"Where do I start?" James asked him. _How many times would he have to go over this?_

"That first time might be a good place. When did you first encounter him?"

James scratched his head. _It was a long time ago. He had been just a newly assigned ensign. His first gambit out. _The Luftschiff Terzi_. They had intercepted _The Dark Wind_ and his idiot captain had decided to take it on. _The Terzi_ could have left, but his captain had decided to go after the pirate ship and _The Dark Wind_ had immediately fired a volley that shredded their wards and exploded into their canopy, ripping it open, rendering it useless. They started dropping like a stone. There were explosions and things burst into flames. The crew was panicking. _

_James had held to his post and had begun to try to deploy the emergency parachutes but they were falling too fast and he realized even if he got his open, the other crew members weren't staying at their posts and even, if by some miracle, they had time to get them all up and out, the parachutes would likely catch fire from the hot blaze from the canopy over their heads. This was it. His life cut short._

_He remembered seeing _The Dark Man, _dressed entirely in black. He was standing on a platform on top of _The Dark Wind's_ canopy (a feat that would have required him to pull himself up hand over hand). He was watching them drop. _

_James remembered the man stretching out one arm towards them and, thinking he must be confused by smoke inhalation, James remembered feeling that their rate of falling had slowed. They were still sinking but slowly, without the sense of loss of control. He watched the man stretch out his other arm and the fires extinguished. James was able to get his chutes ready for deployment and ran to help with one other set. Apparently there were still a few crewmen on the other side who had kept, or at least regained their heads, to deploy the other two sets. They loosed them together and the ship began to float back down to ground. _

"You didn't see anything coming out of the man's hands?" the interviewer, the doctor asked him.

"No, Dr. Hopper. And I can't say for sure that he did something, anything, to slow us down. But the events coincided and I have no other explanation for why our descent slowed and the fires went out."

Dr. Hopper sat back reading through the top sheet of a tall stack of papers. "Captain Nolan, yours is the most complete, detailed accounting of the Terzi Incident."

James shook his head. "I can only tell you my perceptions that I had at the time. I was in a falling airship, on fire, so who knows how much of what I remember is real, how much actually happened, and how much is something I put together to make sense of it."

"Well from all the other accounts, we do know that you were one of the few to keep your head and get your job done," Dr. Hopper sat back in his chair, "Now, is there anything, anything at all that you can remember from the event? Even something that might seem silly to someone else? Even something that seems minor?"

James hesitated, just a moment. He had hesitated and he knew that he had given himself away. The good doctor had seen the split moment of indecision. He knew there was something more that James had not shared.

James did not like talking about the _Terzi_ Incident, had never liked talking about it. It always had made him feel that he had become unhinged. He had been afraid that it might hold his career back, but, as luck would have it, the citations he had gotten for bravery and commendations from some of the other officers had done nothing but help him along. But he had always been careful at how he described things. But, in his heart, he _knew_ The Dark Man had slowed the ship's fall and had put out the fire. He didn't know how, he just knew he had done it.

_How_ it might have happened was one thing. And_ why_ he would have done it, that was something else. They were The Enemy. If the situation had been reversed, his captain would have let _The Dark Wind _fall and done nothing to go after survivors.

He began slowly, "There was a point that I had gotten the second parachute ready and had heard from the other side of the ship that theirs were ready too, I. . .I. . . made a tenuous wave at The Dark Man." James sat quietly. Dr. Hopper said nothing, just waited. James took a couple of deep breaths and finally continued, "I don't know why I did that, waving I mean, but I did. Although there were several hundred meters between the ships, I could _feel_ the creature's eyes on me and I felt sure I saw him smile and nod. The creature then slowly dropped his hands and the ship began to plummet, allowing the parachutes to deploy."

"I've never told anyone that," he finished.

Dr. Hopper sat quietly, "Interesting. You felt connected with him?"

"I guess. I don't really know. I felt something. It was probably nothing. Just the stress of the situation."

Dr. Hopper nodded, "I'm sure. You were under a lot of stress." The doctor pushed his chair back and stood up. "I've got one other thing for you to do and then I think I'd like to introduce you to a couple of other officers who've have similar experiences. Come with me."

James followed the young psychiatrist. They were already deep inside one of the oldest buildings in town; probably the original structure had been built in the 1500's. It was now a government building and now they were going deeper, far below the original building. There were long halls, long windowless halls. Closed doors along the hallways. The gas lamps lining the halls were bright, but cast off a dark yellowish red hue, increasing the sense they were entering the bowels of a large animal. James couldn't help but feel that he had done just that, been swallowed up by a great beast.

They stopped at a non-descript door, like all the other non-descript doors in the hallway. Dr. Hopper opened it and led Captain Nolan into a room. "This is the final step we need you to go through." It was a physician's office. There was an examination table and equipment set up.

"Please, Captain Nolan. I'm going to have to ask you to lie down on the table. We are going to do a quick body scan."

Nolan complied, removing his weapons, his belt, his watch, even his shoes. "Anything else metal on you?" There was another doctor, Dr. Steiner, who was conducting this examination.

"I don't think so," James had told him. "What is this about?"

"Just making absolutely sure of some things here," Steiner explained _but not explained._

Drs. Steiner and Hopper stepped behind a screen while the machine passed over Nolan, humming, periodically stopping, going up and down, around and under. It took about twenty minutes.

Dr. Steiner was watching the progression of the scanner. "Give me about thirty minutes. I'll let you know," he was talking with Dr. Hopper.

"Captain Nolan, I'm going to take you to the cafeteria and make sure you get a good meal. I haven't had anything to eat myself." Nolan allowed himself to be led off through a second maze of tunnels. He still was not sure exactly what was going on, but thought back to the early morning, when his commanding officer had told him to report to Dr. Hopper, cooperate with him in every way possible and expect it to take all day. Hopper led him to a company cafeteria.

James managed to go through the cafeteria line and sat down in a corner with the psychiatrist. Nolen was a confirmed observer of people and took note of the types of people who were eating lunch in this building. Military types, for sure. Some air navy, like himself, but other branches of service were also represented. Quite a few individuals in white coats, probably this group included doctors, maybe nurses, lab people, sundry medical support staff. There were a few civilians, dressed very formally, in dark clothes. Many of these individuals, Nolan noticed, took care to seat themselves with their backs to the wall and off to the side where they wouldn't be readily noticed. Reminded him of espionage agents. He didn't make small talk, still not entirely comfortable with the psychiatrist. He was startled to notice that the doctor was watching him as he watched people.

"I like to watch people also," Dr. Hopper told him. "I can usually tell a lot about them by just watching."

He didn't say anything else. They were still sitting at the table when Dr. Steiner came in and after briefly scanning the seating area, located them and came over to join them.

"He's clean," was all Whale said.

"Thanks. That's always good to know," replied Hopper. He then smiled at Nolan. "There's one more place I need to take you and some people I want you to meet."

So once again, navigating the underground labyrinth of corridors and passages, Dr. Hopper led him to yet another non-descript door in a corridor of other non-descript doors. Hopper tapped on the door and without waiting for an answer, opened it. Inside was a table and six chairs. Two of the chairs were occupied by two men.

"Gentlemen, may I introduce Captain James Nolan-Spencer. Captain Nolan, Lieutenant Commander Neal Cassidy and Lieutenant Commander August Booth." Dr. Hopper made the introductions. The junior officers rose and saluted the captain.

Booth looked over at Nolan from the table at which he and Cassidy had been seated. "Captain Nolan?. You were aboard the _Terzi_?" He spoke with a touch of awe in his voice.

"It was a long time ago," James waved him off.

Dr. Hopper continued. "You three have all had, uh, interesting experiences with The Dark Man." He waited until they had all sat back down. " And, more importantly, you survived your contact with the man. And even more importantly, none of you have ever been physically touched by him."

"So what do you want with us?" Booth went right to the heart of the question.

Dr. Hopper hesitated. "We're forming a task force to go after him. We want people who have experience with him, who have some idea of what they are up against."

"A task force?" Cassidy reiterated.

"We going to try to take him in, bring him to justice."

"How?" James asked him. "I mean, I see two problems here. How are you planning to incapacitate him enough to take him in and what kind of cell will you put him in, when and if you do manage to take him down? You can't use ordinary methods with the man."

"Excellent questions," a short, attracctive dark-haired woman had entered the room. Nolan glanced at her insignia.

_Crap, a vice-admiral. _The men had all risen to salute her.

She smiled at the men and motioned them to sit back down. She then looked at Hopper. "These are the best?"

"Yes, ma'am," he answered. "All three have shown they can keep cool under pressure and they've all seen some things they can't explain. They know The Dark Man is not an ordinary human."

"And they're all clean?" she asked Hopper.

"Dr. Steiner assures me so."

"Well, then, Let's tell them just what Dark Man might be," she suggested, her voice soft and pleasant..

-ooo-000-ooo-

Her royal highness, Miss Belle French was sunning herself in the solarium of her father's private sail barge. With her pale skin, she was careful to never get direct sun on herself, but she enjoyed the warmth as it splintered through the tinted glass of this end of the gondola. She was sitting with her friends, all daughters of high-ranking officials, a couple of them princesses in their own right. They had been sitting, sipping lemonade, reading silly novels and talking about prospective husbands. Idle, innocuous talk, everything quite suitable for young, unmarried women from their upper social status. Belle had thought it all so very, very boring, but had stayed with them, knowing her father would appreciate her trying to fit in. Plus she liked the warmth coming in through the windows. And she liked the view from the airship. And Mary was there. Mary found the idle chatter as boring as Belle but would often manage to make little side comments that made Belle laugh.

Belle sighed. Right now, most of her acquaintances were actually napping. They had been up late the night before and would almost certainly have another late night this evening. Belle was wide awake.

She was gazing out over the horizon when she saw it.

A dark dirigible moving impossibly fast was bearing down on them. It had come out of nowhere. There were no markings. She immediately felt the threat incarnate in the dark ship. She got up, not wanting to alarm her friends and slipped out of the solarium to find the captain.

Captain Gaston, one of her childhood friends, had already seen the ship.

"Princess Belle," he addressed her as soon as he saw her. "Yes, it's a pirate ship. We are going to be boarded."

"We can't outrun her?" she asked. She did not like the idea of just rolling over and giving in.

"She's too fast. If I'm not mistaken that's _The Dark Wind,_ the fastest ship on the planet. They will board us, take our jewelry and money, any drugs we have, our guns and then leave. They usually don't harm passengers or crew."

"Usually?" Belle asked acerbically. "We aren't going to try to fight them off?"

Gaston looked at her and, with a worried look on his face, told her, "Princess, we don't have the speed, the fire power, the experienced crew. I have passengers that have to be protected and allowing these brigands to take a few baubles is the best way to assure that the passangers will stay safe."

Belle was unimpressed, "Why don't we have speed, fire power, the crew? Why should we give in to this. . .to this. . .extortion?"

Gaston turned away. "Because we have to. It's what we've always done. If we try to fight them off, they're likely to scuttle the ship, take the passengers for ransom, even kill the crew. We don't have good choices, Princess, we don't have good choices."

Belle took a deep breath. _What kind of cowardly thieves preyed on unarmed women? And why hadn't her father done more to stop this kind of thing? _Sometimes, she wished she had been born a man, a prince, who could have helped her father with these types of problems. Well, there was nothing to be done but deal with it.

She went back with her friends, roused them, silenced their screams and poured the cold water of sensibility on their fainting spells.

"I don't know what to expect. We are just going to have to do what they say and not make trouble. Captain Gaston assures me that they don't take prisoners and they don't hurt crew members unless someone tries to be a hero or refuses to cooperate."

Several of her friends were close to hysteria but fortunately Mary, being both a princess herself and a pragmatist had stepped up to the emergency. She was a bit older than Belle and the other girls. If they didn't respect her, they were, at least, a little afraid of her.

"Get up, adjust your clothes, look them in the eye and give them your jewelry," she directed them.

"But this is an emerald and diamond watch," one of the girls protested.

"Is it worth your life?" Mary asked her

The other girl blanched and shook her head.

"Then be prepared to give it to them."

They could hear sounds near them. The pirates had sent grappling hooks over and anchored the two vessels together. They were coming in on the higher deck where the Captain and crew spent most of the time. The solarium was on the lowest deck. It was a matter of time.

Belle was listening but she did not hear any pistol fire. Everyone appeared to be behaving. She could hear the sound of nailed boots on the floor and steady, sure steps above their heads. The women were all sitting, quietly, listening.

They were expecting that the door was to be slammed open so they were surprised when there was a discrete knock on the door.

Belle looked at Mary who was looking back at her. Mary was closest to the door, so she got up and opened it slightly.

They could hear a man's voice.

"Forgive what must be an unexpected and unwelcomed intrusion into your morning routine. But I must insist on entry."

Mary stepped back and allowed the man to come in.

There was an audible gasp from her silly friends. The young man, and it was a young man, was tall, very handsome with curly hair and large kindly eyes. He was dressed outlandishly in a dark purple frock coat, a frilly lace jabot and a tall dark hat. Belle noticed his polished black boots that well outlined the lower half of his long legs. Quite a handsome specimen. Not what they were expecting. Not what they were expecting at all.

He bowed to the ensemble, causing several of the women to titter. Not very threatening, thought Belle. _The gentleman pirate._

"My lovely ladies, I have the sad responsibility to tell you that your ship has been boarded by privateers and we are here to relieve you of your, well, let's say your second most valuable personal possessions. Your jewelry." He smiled at them, making him even more handsome, if possible.

_Good grief, _Belle thought._ Much more time in his company and some of her sillier friends are going to be throwing their undergarments at him._

Mary leaned over to her and whispered, "I didn't anticipate being charmed out of my earrings,"

"I guess it's better than being frightened to near death," responded Belle, whispering back to her.

"If you please." The gentleman pirate started at the opposite end of the room from Belle and held out his hat for the girl to drop her necklace and bracelet into. He went down the line collecting necklaces, bracelets, rings and earrings from her friends, often offering compliments and fair statements to the young women.

No one else noticed _him_ coming into the room.

Only Belle.

She _felt_ his presence, rather than heard him, her attention being inexorably drawn away from the charming gentleman thief. The room seemed to get extraordinarily quiet and her vision narrowed.

She started at his feet, plain black boots. Her eyes went up, plain black pants and the bottom of a black flared leather coat. She raised her eyes a bit more to see a black vest on top of a black shirt. There was a black scarf around his neck. He even had on black gloves.

He wasn't nearly as tall as the first intruder and certainly not dressed as flamboyantly. Her eyes had gone slowly up his form and finally, she met his eyes. At first she thought they were black, but then realized the light had tricked her. They were a dark brown. He had been looking at her, watching her as she had looked him over. She managed to maintain her stare, not flinching or dropping her eyes like some demure maiden _like she was supposed to_.

He gave her a very, very slow smile and then she could see his eyes moving down her body, carefully assessing and examining her. It was a moment before their eyes met again and this time, he just barely nodded.

_Next: Belle Barters a Kiss_

_The Nanomites_

_The Shadowlover_

_A Change in the Pattern_


	2. A Kiss to Begin

_Stalwart Captain James Nolan-Spencer, the illegitimate, but acknowledged heir to a Duke, has struggled to find peace years after he encountered a mysterious figure that saved his life. He has been recruited to join a task force that wants to bring the mysterious figure to justice for his crimes._

_Belle is a strong willed princess wanting more from life, but still trying to be the good daughter. Her father's luxury airship has been boarded by the most fearsome pirates to sail the planet's airways. She meets first a charming pirate, but has just now fallen under the thrall of a dark compelling pirate who now commands all her attention. _

**Chapter Two**

**A Kiss to Begin**

Belle didn't know how long they might have stared at each other, but the jewelry collecting pretty boy was now in front of her. "Milady, milady," he called her several times, startling her out of her daze. It still took her a moment to break her stare-off with the dark-clad man. She found herself looking up.

The pretty man smiled at her and held out his hat. "Please, if you will," he said to her with a grin.

Belle couldn't help herself. She made a face at him but did go ahead and remove her silver and sapphire bracelet and then the matching silver and sapphire earrings. Her father had gotten them for her for her sixteenth birthday. The man gestured at her necklace.

"Oh, this has no real value," she told him. _They wouldn't want her necklace, would they?_

Pretty boy reached out and held the pendant in his hand to examine it. "A flower petal wrapped around a pearl. It appears to be gold and appears to be a real pearl."

Belle pulled back from him, her hand closing over the pendant. "It is one of the very few things I have from my mother. Please, please let me keep it." she asked him turning her large cornflower blue eyes on the man and summoning the most wistful expression she could. It was a look that had worked on generals, ship captains and her father, his royal majesty.

The hatter hesitated, but then shook his head. Not unkindly, he told her, "I'm under orders to take all jewelry. Do you want me to pull it off or will you unclasp it and hand it over?"

Belle sighed. "I'll do it." And as slowly as she could manage she unfastened the cherished simple necklace. She really had gotten it from her mother and wore it almost every day. She somehow felt it kept her mother close. It helped her remember her mother who had passed on when Belle was very young.

She had felt tears begin to well up in her eyes as she went to drop it into the young man's hand, but found the dark stranger standing there. He put his hand, palm up, on top of the young man's and caught the necklace as she dropped it.

"Belonged to your mother?" He spoke with an accent. _What was he, Northern British Isles? _He was looking at her with those dark brown eyes again. _No, not so dark brown, a more warm chocolate brown with tiny gold flecks. _

Belle nodded.

"It's very valuable. . . to you?" the dark man questioned her.

She nodded again.

The man looked the necklace over carefully. "I'll let you buy it back from me." He told her.

"With what? How?" she asked him.

"A kiss."

Belle was vaguely aware of a collective gasp from her friends.

The young man stepped back from them, deferring to the older man, allowing the dark man to step in closer. Belle considered the offer briefly. The dark man wasn't pretty-handsome like the tall one, but he was certainly not unattractive. Brown hair, even features, crooked smile, eyes she could fall into, eyes she had fallen into. A wiry, strong build. He didn't smell badly.

"One kiss?" she questioned him.

She heard Mary. Her voice seemed to come from a distance, "No, no don't let him kiss you. Let the necklace go. Don't let him. . ."

The dark man flicked his eyes at Mary, then made a quick gesture towards the tall pirate, who nodded. The pretty pirate pulled his weapon and held it to Mary's head. "My captain wishes you to be silent," he told her and Mary went silent. Belle was still locked in the gaze of the dark man. She didn't seem quite aware of what had just happened.

"One kiss," the dark man repeated.

"All right." She allowed him to put his gloved hand under her chin to tilt her face up. She heard her friends murmuring protests. Touching a royal princess was a punishable offense, a serious offense. He brought his lips down on to hers. A soft, insistent kiss. Firm, but not forceful.

He tasted good, like warm spices. This close she realized that he actually smelled rather nice too. Her lips parted slightly as the kiss lingered and his lips gently moved on hers. He broke it off, smiled again at her, then took her hand, holding it palm up to drop the necklace into it.

"Am I your first?" he was talking to her in a whisper.

She felt unusually brave. "You're my first pirate," she told him.

He actually chuckled. "Hope I didn't disappoint." He bowed and made a curt motion for the young man to follow him out.

With a parting nod and an adieu, "Ladies," from the young man, the two men left the group in the solarium.

Belle was rushed by her friends.

"I didn't even see him come in."

"Who was he?"

"Was he a good kisser?"

"Are you all right?"

"Do you have any idea what that was?"

This last sounded harsh and came from Princess Mary.

"Not a what, but a who," Belle corrected her.

"Come with me, NOW," Mary led her off. Mary was talking in a rushed whisper, "That's a what. That was the Dark Man himself, Belle. You called attention to yourself with the Dark Man himself. You let him touch you. You let him kiss you. Don't you know he's the most dangerous creature on the planet?"

"Oh really," Belle was surprised. "Well, it was just a kiss. He seemed quite pleasant. He let me keep my necklace."

"For a kiss, Belle. He put his hands on you and kissed you."

Belle smiled. "One hand on me and just a peck. It wasn't bad. Not bad at all. How do you know who he is, anyway?"

"We knew it was his ship and I recognized the descriptions from my people who've encountered him visiting my step-mother. There are no pictures of him, but I'm sure it was him."

"Hum," said Belle. "No pictures? Well, I'll have to see what I can do. I got a pretty good close-up view of the man."

The two women stopped talking. They could hear the two vessels detaching and they could see the shadow of the _Dark Wind_ as it lifted up and moved away from them, finally rapidly streaking off, up and away.

000-o0o-000

"Let me tell you gentlemen what we know so far."

The vice admiral had sat down next to Nolan, Booth and Cassidy.

"This begins a couple of hundred years ago, three hundred and twenty-six to be exact," Admiral Gorim began. "I assume you are all familiar with nanobytes?"

The three glanced at each other and nodded. _Common-place medical robot-bacteria constructs so tiny they could be injected into the ill person to do their repair work._

"The technology was quite new at that point and not entirely trusted. There was concern about how these things floating around in a person's system would affect a person's health in the long run."

"But weren't they built with a self-destruct so that wouldn't be a concern? Or what about strictly using non-replicating ones?" asked Booth.

"At first, they didn't even realize that the things _could_ reproduce, Mr. Booth. And as for self-destructing, well, the original constructs were far more indestructible than their host, so, once injected, they would stay inside a person's body long after the body had quit functioning," she continued. "At that time, they were also not sure how many needed to go into a person's body for optimal healing."

"Isn't it usually a couple of thousand?" asked Cassidy.

She nodded. "Now we know the optimal amounts for different disorders and even have different nanobytes for different jobs. Usually far less than a hundred thousand will do the trick unless there is massive trauma. But never more than a hundred thousand."

"All right, we all know this," confirmed Nolan.

"Well, in the early days, one of the more hysterical concerns was the possibility that these things could be injected in massive enough amounts and move into the brains of the host and, with prior programming, take over the behavior of the host. Further, as they realized that some of the nanobytes could reproduce, they realized it would become quite difficult to get rid of them once you were injected. There could even be a contagion factor."

The three men sat back. "Wow," said Nolan. "Was anyone working on brain control? Was such a thing actually being worked on?" Such a thing was inconceivable to the honest young captain.

"No one would admit it, of course. But yes, there was a company, a somewhat disreputable under-the-table sort of company that was actively engaged in the creation of such nanobytes. Naturally only the higher ups in the company knew the real focus of the research, but one of their assembly line supervisors began to piece things together."

The admiral took a moment before continuing, "This supervisor came from an old, but impoverished family, several older families in fact. Very respectable, very proper, very honorable. He was reasonably well educated. A hard, honest worker by all accounts. A kind man. A gentle man. He worked as a spinner; that is, he was responsible for separating out the defective components and any otherwise rejected nanobytes using a centrifuge. He had been told to destroy the defective ones, but instead, on his own, he started a little project. He kept the rejects in a vat of nanobyte nutrients and was studying them. He had begun to see the capacity for imperfect nanobytes to fix themselves or each other. Some, he had found, were even able to combine with other nanobytes to create new and better nanobytes."

She continued, "Now, our spinner had also begun to realize the functioning of the nanobytes that he was being instructed to pass through. He had begun to collect evidence, pretty damning evident. He hadn't gotten to any authorities or to the news media yet, and likely really didn't know who he could trust. But his superiors began to suspect what he was up to and on Zosa's orders, that was the company's president, the young man was attacked, severely beaten and left nearly dead. The perpetrators decided the perfect way to dispose of the body was to take it high up on a cat walk above our spinner's experimental vat and toss the body off. It fell the fifty or so feet down into the vat that he had been putting the rejected nanobytes into. They assumed, if there was even a body left, that it would all be treated like some horrible industrial accident."

"Good grief, if he were still alive and had any open wounds. . . " Nolan began.

"He was and he did," confirmed the vice admiral.

"The nanobytes would have swarmed," finished Booth.

"They did. We don't know how many went into his body. We think that there were billions of defective nanobytes in that vat; it was the perfect breeding ground for the little rascals. Everything was as he had suspected: some had combined with others, some had learned to repair themselves, some had cross-bred with other nanobytes to create new subspecies. With, conservatively, a hundred thousand nanobytes in each drop of water, the man probably absorbed easily more than a million, possibly several million of the tiny robots. They immediately began repairs on his injuries and, we don't exactly know what happened next, but they began making other changes in the man, in an effort to make him work better, more efficiently. We think that in some way they recognized him as the man that had been keeping them alive rather than just destroying them. They 'liked' him, for lack of a better word. So they fixed him. . . and fixed him up."

James Nolen sat back. "Creating the Dark Man," he finished.

The vice admiral gave him a thin smile. "He wasn't the Dark Man at first. He's been through a number of incarnations, hiding his real identify each time. He's been, we think, several famous healers, and a number of well-known scientists. The Dark Man is one of his latest personae," she confirmed.

"But didn't you say this was over three hundred years ago?" asked Cassidy.

"Yes," she replied without elaboration.

"He's over three hundred years old?" Cassidy had to get this confirmed.

"Yes," she replied again. "And not only is he not getting older, he's absolutely brilliant and he has had learned well from the few mistakes he has made. The original man, Rumach Pulfrich Stillwell Skinner was an average student, nothing extraordinary, but the Dark One is a thinker second to nobody."

"So now we also think that these nanobytes might have given him some. . . " Booth struggled for the right word and settled on, "powers, that other human's don't have?"

"We don't actually think of him as human any more, Lieutenant Commander Booth. He's more machine than human, probably best thought of as a symbiote, both he and the nanobytes benefit from the relationship. But, in answer to your question about the 'powers,' yes. We have been gathering stories from people who have survived encounters with him and there seem to be several talents that repeatedly are indicated. Magnetic control is the most common. If something contains iron, he can manipulate it, manage it in space, blow it up, whatever."

"What else?" Nolan asked.

"Less often are indicators that he can manipulate fire, such as in your incident wherein he may have put a fire out. We've had several where he has appeared to have started a fire. He seems to have some control over air and earth and water, all the elements of the ancients. We have a few stories, like Mr. Booth's, in which he seemed to be able to read someone's mind. And we have a very few, like Mr. Cassidy's story, that seems to indicate that he can teleport."

The Vice Admiral Gorim paused and folded her hands together, "So a long time, he was just a dangerous aberration." She waited a moment before continuing, "However, we now also know that he is capable of contaminating others. Most likely through body fluids. If his blood, or saliva or semen enters another, the nanobytes are transmitted to the other person. We have an increasing body of evidence that suggests that he may then be able to control that person."

"Holy shit," Nolan said, then realized whom he was addressing. "Sorry ma'am," he immediately apologized.

"Holy shit, indeed, Captain," she repeated what he had said. "No one has successfully crossed the man. At best, he has let people go, but no one has ever beaten him. After bringing down Zosa's company, twisting the knife into its chest, as it were, he laid low for a while, we think making the adjustment to what he now was and learning about his new abilities. Hence the healer personae and the scientist. But we know he's killed. There have been several people that have crossed him, some for trivial reasons and they just disappeared. No body, no evidence, the person was just gone. But that doesn't happen often. Usually he has shown more interests in science and medicine and in accruing wealth than he has in politics and government. So far."

"Has he infected people in the government?" Cassidy asked.

The admiral sat back. "I'm sure I don't have to explain how classified this information is, gentlemen. We have recently been able to detect the nanobytes through the means of Roentgen radiation. We have, over the past several years, begun to collect information on people who have had such a radiation examination and tested positive for them." She waited a moment, then nodded at Dr. Hopper who had sat quietly through the Admiral's lecture. He pulled out a sheet of paper.

"These are all people whom we think have been contaminated with his nanobytes." Dr. Hopper handed it off to the three men.

"Good lord," Nolan spoke up. "These are names from nearly every royal house in Europe, prime ministers, presidents, many world leaders. . . " He looked up at the admiral. "He could possible control any number of governments, get any kind of law passed. . . "

The admiral nodded. "Exactly. He has never shown any interest in politics. This may just be him keeping, what is the phrase? an ace in the hole."

"Several aces, several holes," noted Booth. "Do these people know?"

"No. We have nothing to offer them. No way to de-contaminate them, although we are working on it."

"That's why you had me thoroughly examined earlier today," Nolan suddenly realized the purpose of the medical testing.

"All three of you have been thoroughly examined, as I, myself, and Dr. Hopper have been. We are reviewed every six months and can be reviewed more often if three members of our Organization feel it's necessary." She sat back. "You see why it's so important that we contain this man. So far, no one has been able to touch him. We know that he's guilty of murder, extortion, kidnapping, but we can't catch him to bring him to trial."

"And you want us to. . . ?" Cassidy asked.

"Come up with a plan for capturing him. I have another team working on a plan for holding him, containing him, if we can ever capture him," she explained. "Are you gentlemen in?" she asked.

Nolan didn't hesitate. "I am," and the other two nodded.

"I think we should start by finding out everything we can on the man's movements. We'll have to know where he is, where he's going to be, if we have a prayer of capturing him," Nolan began.

Admiral Gorim smiled. "I actually have some of that information gentlemen. Come with me. I welcome each of you to Operation Cobra."

-ooo-000-ooo-

They were in his house, the one he had bought from Regina. It was in a quiet, respectable neighborhood with iron gratings and beveled glass windows looking out onto a perfect cottage garden. They were in his living room. It was cluttered. The Dark One, aka Captain Gold, was not the tidiest creature. He had a variety of junk, objects d'art, sundry ill-gotten gain, rubbish, flotsam, jetsam, spoils, booty, loot, odds and ends, stolen treasures, plunder, found artifacts, swags, pickings and just stuff he had picked up during his long life.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" only Mad Jefferson would dare talk with him that way. It was the voice of old friendship and genuine concern talking. Jefferson had shoved some things off of one of Gold's two sofas and was lounging back smoking lord-knows-what and sipping something yellowish-green from a glass, _absinthe?_

"What do you mean?" he asked, but he knew what Jefferson was talking about.

"Since we boarded the French ship and you kissed that girl, you have been moping around."

"I don't mope!" he protested, throwing himself down face-first on the second sofa in the room.

"He said, throwing himself down face first in a pile of cushions. I think that is the very definition of moping."

Gold looked up squinted at his first officer. "You know, I am capable of exploding your brain from here, with just a flick of my finger." He made a slight flicking gesture with his finger to emphasize the point.

"You could, but you'd have to quit moping to do that," Jefferson told him. "I surprised that you haven't been writing her name 'Mrs. I-don't-know-your-name Gold,' 'Mrs. Gold,' over and over again with little hearts for the periods."

"Her name is Belle."

"You know that? How? Your babies?" Jefferson asked him.

Gold nodded.

"Do you know any more about her?"

Gold shook his head. "Well she looked at me instead of you. Not many women do that. I've never known a woman to do that. But except her name, I don't know anything about the girl. Who she is? Where she is now? I don't know how to find her. She could be a lady's maid for all I know. . ."

Jefferson interrupted. "I doubt that, with those sapphires I took off of her. Those were first rate."

Gold nodded and continued, "Well then hell, she could be a royal princess. It's not like I can ride over and just snag her and bring her back to my lair to have my way with her."

"Why not? She liked you well enough."

"Did you miss the part where I said I don't know how to find her again?" Gold sounded exasperated.

"So, when has that type of thing ever been a deterrent. . . to you?"

Gold hesitated, "Maybe I think I might like her well enough that I don't want to ruin her life. Did you see how she looked at me?"

"No, I didn't, but I did see how she leaned into you when you kissed her. When a woman does that with me, it's a matter of time before, well, I get to lean into her, if you take my meaning."

"Ah, but the ladies like you. You are handsome and charming."

"And you're what, Captain? You're pleasant enough looking. And you can be damn charming when you want something. I've seen you do it. This girl that you like, I don't understand why you are agonizing over this. Everything else you've wanted, you've just gone and gotten it. Find out where she sleeps, go get her, enjoy her company until you get tired of her and move on. If you don't, it's going to fester and eat away at you," Jefferson advised him.

Gold shrugged. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to find out more about her." He held up one of his hands, palm up.

"If you're going to call out your nano-buddies, I'm leaving. It always creeps me out," Jefferson nodded and stood, taking a moment to get his balance and remember how to walk. He saluted his captain and left him alone.

The Dark Man, formerly Rumach Pulfrich Stillwell Skinner, now Captain Gold, sat quietly looking at the palm of his hand and concentrating. Slowly, oozing out from between the very skin cells tiny masses of metal appeared, melding together, writhing, congealing, finally formulating themselves into an even dozen tiny, tiny insect-like creatures complete with delicate wings.

He spoke gently to the tiny robots, like a kindly father ever proud of his children, "Go find the one that is in my mind. Find your brothers and sisters that live within her. Find where she sleeps." He paused for a moment, concentrating on the young woman's face and frame. "Come home." He told the creatures and they flew off.

He laid himself down on the sofa to rest.

-ooo-000-ooo-

_The dreams had begun. Belle was lying in her bed. It was dark and warm. She had only a light gauze cover on herself. She was wearing only a simple silk nightdress. _

_She dreamt she had awakened._

_Hands on her, warm, slow hands. They were on her waist and moving up her body, sliding her nightdress up to her hips, up over her hips. The hands went up to her breasts. She could feel fingers gently touching, gently brushing her nipples. The nipples quickly hardened into little buds. The fingers teased and tormented her, gently, sometimes not so gently, tweaking the sensitized tips of her breasts. She had never felt anything like this. It felt good._

_Then lips were on her neck, under her ear, trailing over to her cheek to her mouth, devouring her mouth. She opened her mouth and the kiss deepened, the shadow lover shifting his body to lay halfway onto hers. _

_The hands went down her body. One of the hands moved to touch her between her legs. The hand was tickling her between her legs, insisting her legs open up, open up for questing fingers. Moving along her thighs, moving, moving. _

_She had opened her legs for the hand. It had stopped right at the juncture where her legs came together and she felt the phantom fingers caressing her. There was, at first, a tender massage and she felt something, yet something else that she had not felt before. _

_She gasped. She was being kissed again but her whole being had become centered between her legs. She felt something was being heated, being coiled within her. The hand, the fingers kept caressing her. It felt better and better and she lifted herself up into the hand. _

"_Oh please," she heard herself say. The shadow lover didn't stop. She was being caressed, stimulated, teased and aroused. His fingers began to slip and slide around her most intimate parts. She felt the fingers fasten onto a particularly sensitive part of her and almost, nearly, pinch her _there_. She began to shiver. The stimulation didn't slow down. Her shadow lover continued to rub, pinch, kiss, insisting on. . insisting on. . . what. She didn't know what to expect. She clung to him, holding on to him, wanting something. Wanting something._

_How long she held onto him, she didn't know. Things felt so good. Things kept building. She had never. . .had never. . ._

_She convulsed abruptly, her whole body splintering and throbbing, surrendering, submitting to the shadow lover. He kissed her, one last time, very long and very hard and then was gone. _

**Gotta thank those early reviewers: ****. 1, Guest Who, reviewer, Guest, paulawer, leafena,****The Prince's Phoenix, Grace5231973**

**AND**

**Hermitess (Guest) (thanks for the additional kudos for Casa d'Ora – the story should have followed the movie as I had the script at my side and essentially retyped it with the show in mind). **

_NEXT: Operation Cobra gets a break_

_Captain Gold comes back for the necklace_


	3. Visitors

_Sweet, innocent Belle has been kissed by the dark captain, whom we have learned has been transformed by a massive infusion of nanobytes, tiny robot bacteria designed to heal and cure illnesses. It is believed that he can infect others and perhaps even control them if they absorb any of his nanobytes. _

_Meanwhile, this powerful creature has begun to fancy the sweet Belle and has designs on acquiring her. Belle has begun to have dreams of a Shadow Lover who comes to her, who is taking her innocence by degrees. _

**Falling **

**Chapter Three **

**Visitors**

"There's been another Event," Booth told the other two working on his team. They looked up from their own work, expectantly. "On what appears to be a routine shake-down, extortion run, they hit one of King Maurice's luxury ships. There was a bit of a wrinkle. Apparently the royal princess, herself, Princess Isobelle, was aboard the ship and she was reluctant to part with a necklace. The Dark Man, aka Captain Gold, himself intervened."

"He doesn't usually participate in the collection process. What happened?" Cassidy was asking.

"Not exactly sure, we just know he was in the room when the Princess protested and he ended up offering to sell. it. back. to her for a kiss," explained Booth.

"Sell it back to her for a kiss? He's never done anything like that. That would be more typical of his crazy first mate," Nolan observed.

"I thought so too, which is why I'm mentioning it. Anything that breaks his pattern I think should be noted."

"What do we know about this Princess?" Nolan asked.

"Only that she's beautiful and charming and, she reputed to be rather bright," Booth offered.

Nolan made a decision. "One of us needs to go see her. Sounds like she's likely contaminated. But she may now know something that can help us."

"Well," said Cassidy, "I'd be in over my head around royalty. Never have felt comfortable there. I'd say it's your beat, your dukeship, lordship, marquees, sir" he addressed Nolan with a smile.

"Well, I can't say I'm not interested in meeting a young woman who attracted the attentions of the Dark Man. I'm up for going to interview her. Maybe she can give us a better description of the man. If she got close enough to kiss him, she might have been able to make some observations about him that we don't have." Nolan shook his head. "This kiss thing is so far out of his pattern. What do we have on this Princess? You say she's beautiful."

Booth handed him a picture. It was a sepia stained photograph, clearly a portrait done for publicity reasons. The Princess was posed with her hair up and a close fitting formal dress. She was looking directly at the camera with a pleasant, open expression.

"Wow," Nolan remarked. He looked at Booth, "Blue eyes?" he asked, the sepia-brown tones not betraying any of the brighter details of the young woman.

"That's what we hear," Booth replied.

"What a beauty! Maybe I can understand why the Dark Man broke out of his pattern and laid one on her. If I had a chance to kiss that. . ."

"I would suggest you avoid physical contact with the young woman," the Admiral had entered the room. "If he's indeed kissed her, she is almost certainly infected and could then possibly pass some of the nanobytes on to you should there be any intimate contact. Very good catch, Booth," she complimented the young officer. "This may be our first big break."

She looked seriously at Nolan. "I'm sorry to tell you but you should be treating her as if she has plague. We will need to talk to King Maurice about isolating her so she doesn't have a chance to infect his men or any of her friends. We will need to put together a team to examine her to determine if or how seriously infected she is. We will want to talk to her father to get permission to try a new experimental treatment to remove the nanobytes within her. They may not have had the chance to get completely into her system yet."

She stopped to look at the picture of the princess. "I do agree with you; this is so out of character for him. We have no record that he's ever been interested in any woman, or man for that matter. Nothing beyond very brief, casual sexual encounters. There's something else going on."

"Perhaps. It is certainly worth checking out," agreed Nolan.

-ooo-000-ooo-

Belle was getting ready for bed. She had been having a last cup of chamomile tea, hoping it would help her sleep more peacefully. She had changed into a light lace gown and a matching over-robe. She was almost hesitant to go to bed.

She had continued having _The Dreams_, spending more and more time with her Shadow Lover.

Over the past several nights, she had experienced more and more in her dreams, each one becoming more explicit, more involved, more intense. Not just touching her with his hands and kissing her mouth. He had begun to kiss her all over. She blushed thinking about the slow journey he had taken with his lips and tongue that had culminated with him lying between her sprawled legs and, after some protesting on her part and the Shadow Lover simply ignoring her, she had allowed him to plunder her most secret, personal folds and curves and hollows and she had screamed and shuddered under his insistent attentions.

Her Shadow Lover had taken to removing her nightgown. She would awaken without it, often finding it bunched up in some corner of the bedclothes. One night, she had dreamt that he had, in his eagerness, just pulled it off of her and tossed it out of the bed. She had found it in on the floor of the bed chamber. This had shaken her. _Was she doing all of this in her sleep?_

Oh, but Belle had been such an innocent, in body and mind – not having any inkling of what a lover might ask, would ask from her. And so, the events of the previous night had shaken her.

For it was last night when her dream lover had finally exercised all rights over her, penetrating her, impaling her in a one sweet, swift motion, demanding, requiring she submit. And she had surrendered all to her Shadow Lover, feeling she had no options, no choices. _And it was all just a dream, right? _She had screamed out her release at his hands, under his body, while he buffeted her, not once experiencing bliss, but three times, each time more intense than the others. She had received, had accepted and absorbed his powerful attentions as he drove repeatedly into her, finally releasing himself into her, so vigorously that she could feel the spray as he sent his own life force into her. _But it was all a dream._ And then her Shadow Lover had withdrawn from her, cradling her and kissing her tenderly afterwards. And for the first time he had spoken to her. He had murmured a single whispered word, "Soon."

_But it was all a dream._

Wasn't it?

She had set the cup on her small breakfast table. At least she had stopped trembling. She took herself outside to cool off and was now standing on her large balcony looking out over the city. She had brushed her hair out and it was waving down her back and over her shoulders. She had spent the day before finishing up her drawings of the Dark One. She had ended up with two drawings, one of his face, the other was the man in his dark clothing, standing in the pose that she had first seen him in. Mary had looked over the drawings and thought she had done an excellent job. Belle had first put the drawings into a drawer but she kept finding herself taking them out to look at them several times during the day.

_What was wrong with her? She couldn't stop thinking about the man. He did somehow remind her of the Shadow Lover. The two had certainly entered her life at the same time. _

_And then there was that extorted kiss from the Dark Man, quite innocent in light of what her Shadow Lover had taught her a kiss could do. And she had not been entirely truthful with the man. _

_It _had_ been her first kiss. _

_And it had been wonderful. _

_No, she couldn't stop thinking about him._

Standing on her balcony, in the cool air of the early evening, Belle saw something odd. A rope coming down out of the darkness, dropping down onto the balcony?

_What on earth? Where is it coming from? What is it?"_

As she watched a dark figure scurried down the rope and landed lightly on it's feet. The figure rose, spotted her and . . . and he bowed. It was the Dark One. On her balcony!

"What are you doing here? How are you here?" she looked up at the rope.

He stretched and removed the goggles that protected his eyes from the wind and other elements. He pocketed them in his ever-present leather coat. "A personal airship. Small, dark, suitable for getting in and out of tight places, in the night," he explained, coming over to her. He was still dressed entirely in black. He smiled at her. _Oh lord, he was even more attractive than she had remembered. Even more desirable. Memory had not done him justice. _She glanced at him again, trying to be careful not to stare, not to look at his body, his face. _No, her memory had not done him justice._

"I couldn't stop thinking about that necklace.," he told her, speaking slowly and softly. "A golden chain with a pearl. I should never have let it go. It really does have some value, and I have a reputation to maintain."

Her hand went to her necklace which was, as always, still around her neck. "You can't be here. These are my private quarters. You could get in trouble."

He had to smile at that. He nodded agreement and feigned alarm, "Oh, I'll have to be careful then. I wouldn't want to get into trouble."

Belle realized the absurdity of what she had just said. If Mary was right, that this was the most wanted man on the planet, then she was warning him that he could get in trouble for coming into her bedroom. Like he would worry about that.

She did manage to mutter out, "I wouldn't want you to get in trouble on my account."

"I wouldn't mind, Princess."

_So he knew who she was._

"So you came back for my necklace?" she asked him.

"I did," his voice was as soft as his eyes. He had come up to her and she was suddenly conscious of her state of undress. And very, very softly, so softly she wasn't sure she had heard him, "And for you."

"You cannot be here. These are my private quarters," she warned him again, stepping back and away from him, trying to put some distance between them. _Oh, what would she do if he would press his advantage?_

"I won't be telling anyone I was here. Will you?" he stepped forward closing the distance between them.

"I could scream," she told him, again stepping back from him. _I should scream._

"But you won't," he told her, again closing the distance between them. "You're going to offer me something else for your necklace, because it is really important to you," he predicted.

"What do I have that you could possibly want?" she asked him, whispering. She had backed herself against a wall and she had nowhere to go. _What would he ask for this time?_

"Perhaps just another kiss," he was standing in front of her, so close, so close.

_That she could do._ "Alright," she agreed immediately.

"I don't think you understand," he told her, and he put an arm on each side of her, bracing himself with his hands on the wall, caging her in. "Last time, I kissed you. This time I want you to kiss me."

_Now that could be problematic._ She hesitated but then gave him a small nod. She looked up at him.

He was taller than she. She had to stand on her bare toes to reach his lips with hers. She realized quickly that she would have to put her arms on his shoulders to steady herself. She touched her lips to his, pressing them gently together with his.

_This was nothing like she had experienced when he had kissed her in the solarium. What was she doing wrong?_

She pulled back scowling. "I don't think I'm doing it right," she confessed.

"Try again," he suggested, a hint of a smile crossing his lips.

She did and this time she felt his lips move against hers. Her lips softened against his. She'd remembered that warm spicy taste he had. She closed her eyes. She felt his hands on her, one on the small of her back, the other on the back of her head. He was pressing his advantage, tilting her back so that she was dependent on his arms for keeping her balance. Her knees gave way and was realized she was totally dependent on his arms for staying upright. She felt slightly dizzy and warm and . . . receptive.

She had a moment when she became aware that he was no longer kissing her, but was just holding her and looking at her, looking down at her. "I don't think I did that very well," she confessed, looking up at him. "I think you ended up kissing me again."

"I'm not complaining. It was very, very nice." He leaned down and began to kiss her yet again. She was clinging to him, her hands squeezing his shoulders.

He began to maneuver her over to the bed and the sleeve or skirt or some other part of his leather coat flared out and brushed the tea cup she had set on the edge of the table. It tipped over and out of the corner of her eye she saw it falling, falling down and hitting the foot of the pedestal support for the table. She heard the distinct sound of glass coming into contact with something harder. He glanced down, "I may have chipped one of your cups."

"It's only a cup," she told him, pulling his head back down to her. He moved her on over to the bed and had laid her down on it, following her onto the soft mattress. Not breaking his hold on her, she felt him lie on top of her.

_It was thrilling. _

He was hard and angular and strong and she felt out of control in his grasp. He had begun to slip her robe and nightdress off her shoulders. She was letting him.

_This was so much better than the shadow lover._

There was a knock at the door.

They froze.

There was another knock.

"Princess, sorry to disturb you but someone from the Ministry's Home Office is here to see you. He says it's urgent." It was Mary's voice.

Belle looked up at the man. He was obviously debating whether to have her ignore the knock.

"They'll come in if I don't open the door," she whispered to him. "They will think there is something wrong and they will come in to check on me."

"Damn. Get rid of them," he ordered her and gave her a quick, hard kiss before rising and holding out his hand to her to allow her to stand.

Belle shouldn't have been surprised. Her knees were shaky. She waited a moment while the Dark Man considered where to hide himself. She motioned to the curtains and he shook his head.

"Oh please, I don't think so, dearie," he told her. Where else? He went back out to the balcony. He could sit in the shadows and see and hear everything while not being seen himself.

Belle ran her hands through her hair, pulled up and adjusted her clothing and cracked the door open.

It was, of course, Mary and, standing behind her was a young man in an air navy uniform. He was tall and handsome with blond hair and pretty pale blue eyes. She looked at his insignia. A captain, no less. This must be important.

"Yes, Captain."

The man bowed to her. Court-trained, obviously. No doubt quite well-mannered and tactful. A diplomat. _Why was he here?_

"Ma'am, forgive me. I know the hour is getting late, but I am here on urgent business. I came here straight from headquarters as soon as I could. I was hoping to be able to interview you about recent events." He had taken out a small notebook, the kind that police detectives would use to take their notes into.

_Well, he seemed nice enough._

"All right," she nodded and allowed both the Captain and Mary to come into the room. _It would never do for the Princess to entertain a gentleman in her room without a chaperone. _Belle glanced at the balcony.

"I believe that both of you were on board the _French Queen_ when it was boarded and your jewelry was stolen by the crew of the _Dark Wind." Nolan was already impressed with the little princess. She was a drop dead beauty and obviously had a little steel in her spine._

Belle and Mary both nodded. "Yes, but the police have already interviewed us about the episode," Belle informed him.

"I want to know more about what happened with you, your highness," the young captain looked directly into Belle's eyes.

She flushed.

_The Kiss. He wanted to talk about The Kiss._

"I believe we went over everything with the police," Belle persisted.

"I know ma'am that you had personal contact with the creature known as The Dark Man. I also believe he goes by Captain Gold," he spoke gently but with the authority that came with his rank. He was not going to back down.

Belle took a deep breath. "Yes, although I did not know who it was at the time. He came in after the tall young man who was collecting our valuables."

"That would have been Hatter Jefferson, his first mate, reputed to be just a little mad," the Captain supplied this information.

Bell nodded. _So that was his first mate._ "When the young man came to me, I gave him my bracelet and my earrings. He was going to take my mother's necklace." Belle stopped and put her hand on the necklace in question. The story was rather difficult to share at this point. She had known there was an audience who had witnessed the entire incident, but to actually _say, to talk about_ what had happened. It wasn't easy.

"I understand the Dark Man intervened," the Captain helped her along.

"He said I could keep my mother's necklace in exchange for a kiss, that I could 'buy it back' from him." She did not keep eye contact with the handsome captain.

"How did his offer make you feel?" the Captain asked her.

_This question surprised her. None of the police had asked this question._

She thought about it. _She should have been outraged. She should have been offended. She should have refused. She should have let him take her mother's necklace._

But she had agreed.

"I . . . I. . .was. . . intrigued," she said honestly. "His audacity intrigued me."

"Please, your highness. May I ask why you weren't offended by the effrontery of the offer?"

Belle hesitated. How could she explain it? _She had been attracted to the Dark Man. He was like no one she had ever met. And he had smelled and tasted delicious. _

"As I said, I was intrigued. Not too many men would have dared have spoken to me as he did. And to keep my mother's necklace, it seemed like a kiss was such a small thing. There were plenty of witnesses so I wasn't worried that he would do anything more than just a quick kiss."

_Captain Nolan had listened closely to the Royal Princess. The Dark Man certainly had a measure of charm. This didn't sound like one of his so-called 'spells.' No, this was a young, impressionable girl who'd lived a sheltered life and he had swashbuckled his way into it. It sounded as if she had been flattered and beguiled by the creature. Not the first to fall under his sway. _

"I understand," he told Belle. "Now, and it is very important, anything you can tell me about him. I know you gave an excellent description of the man to the police. Was there anything else you could tell me about him?"

"I don't know what you mean?"

"I know he can seem a bit different from other people. What particulars did you notice?"

Belle considered, "I think he's handsome but not in the popular manner. I didn't notice anything else. He wasn't that tall but seemed to be strongly built. I guess. . . he didn't put his hands on me."

"Anything else?" the captain persisted. "Did he talk with an accent?"

"Northern British Isles. I would say Scotland? But I'm not exactly sure."

"Anythng else?" the captain wasn't going to drop it. "Smell, taste?"

_He was delicious. _"He was warm and sort of spicy?" she struggled to explain.

"Spicy?" the captain looked at her sharply.

"His smell, his kiss," Belle was blushing and looked down. _Oh lord, and he could hear all this from the balcony._

"Uh hum," the Captain wrote down something in his little police officer's notebook. "He kissed you. Then what?"

Not even Mary knew about this part. "He asked if he were my first."

The captain looked at her.

She could see Mary's surprised face. Belle continued. "I told him that he was my first pirate."

The Captain gave her a slight smile. "What did he say, do then?"

"He chuckled, like he thought it was funny. He said he hoped he hadn't disappointed. Then he bowed and left."

"Did he disappoint?" the Captain asked very quietly.

Knowing he was sitting on the balcony and could hear every word, Belle shook her head. "No, he didn't disappoint," she admitted.

The Captain nodded and wrote down more in his little book. He looked at the book for a moment. "Your highness, if we sent a police sketch artist in, do you think you'd be able to describe him?"

Mary spoke up. "If you want a picture of the man, the princess can give you two."

Belle had wanted to shout out, "Noooo," but it was too late.

Mary grabbed Belle, "Come on, it's in your writing desk in your office." She dragged Belle with her and looked back at the Captain, "We'll be right back," she promised.

The Captain was left alone in the bedchamber. As much as he admired the princess, his eyes kept being drawn over to her brunette friend; if he understood, she was a princess in her own right. He thought the brunette, _what was her name, Mary?_ was absolutely adorable and was trying to think of a way he could arrange to see her again.

Nolan noticed a cup on the floor. _Why hadn't she seen it and picked it up? _He stood looking at the door the young women had just gone through. He shrugged and went over to pick the cup up. It had a chip out of it. _Probably had happened when it was knocked off the table_. He stood to put it back on the table. It was warm in the room and he went on out to stand on the balcony. _What a view! _He stood looking out over the town. It was then that he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

There was _something _behind him.

He turned slowly.

**Thanks to my awesome reviewers, including : Reviewer (Guest) (thanks and Gold has no clue he's hot and, as should be apparent from this chapter, yes, the last part was a dream, a powerful dream, but a dream nonetheless), ****The Prince's Phoenix, Guest Who (Guest), Leafena, Kedi, Fyrefly (glad you liked the "magic" I put in the story and the references to spinning – thx), and Hermitess (Guest) (play with the name some – there's a reason for it).**

**Sorry I haven't got back to people personally (those that I can), but I have been writing instead. I didn't know if I would have time to get a new chapter up this coming week with sundry obligations and some traveling, so I went ahead and posted a bit early. **

_NEXT: Belle goes into "protective custody"_

_Gold gets a"gift"_


	4. Temptation

_Virtuous Belle, usually a smart girl, has fallen under the thrall of The Dark Man who has sent her sensuous dreams and has now appeared in her bedroom with every intent of having his wicked way with her. _

_Forthright and true, Captain Nolan is seeking information on the Dark Man and knows that Belle may have been infected by his insidious nanobytes and may well be under his control. He seeks to save her._

**Falling**

**Chapter 4**

**Temptation**

Nolan had gone onto the balcony to cool off in the warm summer air but had _felt something_ behind him.

He turned slowly.

He took a sharp intake of breath and his hand went to his sidearm.

"I know you," the creature stepped out of the dark. He was standing less than six meters away.

_He really wasn't very big. Dressed entirely in black. Dark brown hair, dark eyes. Even featured. Nolan guessed that women wouldn't find him objectionable. _

"The _Terzi,_" the creature continued. "You were aboard the _Terzi." _He stated it as a fact. "You held to your post. I remember."

"You saved my life," the Captain told him, "I remember." He had unfastened the snap on his gun's holster preparing to pull the weapon. The creature's eyes had flicked down to his hand.

"Tell me, are you part of the rumored task force that has been burdened with the job of bringing me in . . . or down?"

Nolan felt frozen in place. He just managed a nod.

"Then you know that weapon won't work on me," the creature told him. Then, the creature smiled. "Now, are you going to tell your superiors about me? A lady's reputation is in peril."

The Captain nodded slowly. "I'm sorry to say that I am. It's my job. I am also going to try to take you down, here and now, even though I know I probably don't have a prayer."

The Dark Man nodded and smirked. "I guess you are the sort that would stick to your duty even in the face of insurmountable odds. And no, you don't have a prayer."

As the Captain pulled his weapon, the Dark Man just smiled at him. The gun wouldn't fire. He remembered Cassidy telling a similar tale of his gun freezing up when he was confronting this creature. The Dark Man held out his hand. Nolan's gun jerked out of his own hand and landed in the Dark Man's hand, "I would think, if you are trying to take me down that they wouldn't give you weapons with a substantial amount of iron in them. It was one of the first things that I found I could manipulate."

The Dark Man easily bent the barrel of the gun and casually tossed it beyond Nolan so that it landed on the bed. He then walked around Nolan. "I could kill you easily, you know." He flicked his fingers at Nolan who could not help but pull back. "Have you drop dead from mysterious causes, have you take a header off the balcony. But damn, I'm trying to impress a lady and if I should kill you in her bedroom, well, she might start believing that I'm the monster you people keep telling her I am."

He shrugged, "I shall forgo the pleasure." He then added, "this time. But I must protest. Those were very impolite questions you were asking the princess. Very embarrassing thing to put her through. Why not just ask if I had put my tongue down her throat, like you're planning on doing with her pretty friend?"

The imp stepped past him back into the bed chamber and picked up the chipped cup. He then turned and, stepping back out onto the balcony, leapt onto the edge of the wide railing, balancing himself on the six inches of banister above four stories. He reached up and grabbed onto a rope that Nolan had not seen before. He then went up into the night and went out of view.

At that moment Mary and Belle returned. Belle was carrying her two drawings of the Dark Man.

Captain Nolan was able to move again. He turned to Belle. "Ma'am, I'm very sorry, but I did not know you were entertaining a visitor."

Belle blanched. She ran out to the balcony and looked up.

The Captain came up behind her and said softly, "It was him, wasn't it?"

Belle nodded. "He said he had changed his mind and wanted the necklace."

The Captain's eyes went to Belle's neck. She was still wearing the necklace.

"And did he extort another kiss?"

Belle blushed. "Yes, that was all that happened," she hastily explained.

"You were interrupted," Captain Nolan noted. "My lady, you are in grave danger. I've been studying this. . .this pirate, and this behavior is most unusual. He may have developed a fascination with you. I've never known him to spare a lady her jewelry for any reason. I've never known him to kiss a lady, any lady, for any reason. And I've certainly never known him to make a repeat contact with anyone. Miss Belle, I am going to urge that you be put under a twenty-four hour guard. I can't emphasize enough that you are in terrible danger."

Belle was surprised. "In danger?! Oh I don't think so. He was very cordial and quite friendly. Well, maybe friendly isn't the best word. He was insistent and charming."

Captain Nolan picked up his bent weapon and showed it to Belle. He shook his head, "I wonder how charming he would have been if you had told him 'no.' And if you hadn't been interrupted, I wonder how charming you would have found him as he persisted in his intentions. I will have to be speaking to your father immediately. Now, let me see those drawings, if you please."

Belle hesitated. She had liked the handsome captain until he had told her that the Dark Man was threatening her. She had never felt threatened. She felt a bit like she was betraying the Dark Man.

_But he had stolen all that jewelry. He'd bent the barrel of a pistol! His reputation was daunting. He really was very dangerous and his actions with her had been totally inappropriate. Maybe she was under some sort of spell._

She handed her drawings over to the captain.

Captain Nolan took the drawings over to one of her oil lamps. "These are remarkable, Princess. You have a genuine talent. You have captured the image of the man and much of his personality, proud, arrogant, brilliant. I'm impressed. I wish to take these. We can make copies of them and make sure they are distributed. This is by far the best portrait of the man that I've ever seen."

He continued, "Now Princess, I must insist that you come with me, now. I don't feel comfortable leaving you in this room that he can so easily access. He may try to snatch you in the next couple of minutes if he can. The more people you have around you, the better."

"But I'm not dressed. . ." Belle protested.

"Put on a traveling cloak. We will have to find other quarters in the castle or even elsewhere for you immediately."

The Captain seemed most alarmed and in some urgency. He wanted to get Belle out of the room as soon as he could. He wasn't sure, but he thought he could still feel the Dark Man hovering somewhere outside in the dark. And if he would choose to come in and take the princess, Nolan didn't believe he could stop him.

"Princess Mary, you'll stay with her tonight, wherever we find a place for her?"

Princess Mary smiled and nodded. "Of course."

Belle had gone to get a cloak from her closet. Mary whispered quickly to Nolan, "I quite agree with you that there is danger here. I saw how he looked at her when we were on board the _French Queen_. He was. . . 'softer' with her. He never took his eyes off of her. And the young man that was with him kept looking at him as if he didn't know what to make of the Dark Man's behavior. Do you think that he might try to hurt her? To kidnap her?"

Captain Nolan hesitated. "This behavior is a break in his pattern. I don't know what he might be capable of," he confessed. "I think that you are a good friend to her, are you not?"

"I am?"

"Then stay with her."

Nolan did have an appreciation of what the little princess was feeling. Before meeting her, he had been thinking that despite her intelligence and strong will, that there was a character weakness in her, that her finding the creature attractive spoke of some serious flaw in her makeup. But, now, having met the creature and spoken with him, Nolan could now see how very powerful his personality was, how easily he could overwhelm. . . well, anyone.

000-ooo-000

The Dark Man, sat in his private chambers of his own airship. He was drinking. He was remembering. . . remembering. Her hair, her skin, her delicate smell, the innocent eagerness with which she had returned his kisses, the melting quality her entire body had acquired when he had lain on top of her. She had heated and was responding to his attentions. If he had had just a little more time. He felt he would have been able to consummate the relationship, taken the little virgin, it would have gotten her out of his system. He had poured nanobytes into her system, probably more than he had ever put into anyone else. But he didn't want to control her. He wanted her to come to him of her own volition, or, at least, mostly her own volition.

Damn, damn, damn. And he had spent all that time talking with the nanobytes within her, sending her the dreams to soften her up, to rouse her to his touch, to ready her for him. And what had it gotten them both but frustration.

But now, well, by now the stalwart, young captain had ordered multiple body guards. And, if he had heard correctly, his little Princess had drawn a picture of him. By now it was being copied and would soon be circulated in every home office. He could only hope that his princess wasn't a talented artist. His princess?

She wasn't his princess. She was so _not_ his princess.

Jefferson was wrong. Visiting her again had not scratched the itch. It had made things worse, much worse. He hadn't felt lust in a long time, but he felt it now. And, what was worse, he didn't want to assuage his urges with just anyone. He had never indulged himself with any of the females aboard his ship. None of them would have suited him at the moment anyway. He just wanted one female.

A female he couldn't have.

Going to get her would be dangerous. It would just be too dangerous. Too dangerous.

He needed to do something to distract himself. To take his mind off the girl.

He'd take the ship back to Regina's. There would surely be enough there to distract him.

000-OOO-000

"Are you sure this is what protective custody looks like?" Mary had cornered Captain Nolan and was grilling him about the arrangements Belle had been forced into. A tiny, three room apartment, deep inside the castle, with only Ministry approved visitors. No one was to touch her. Three guards at the door at all times. She couldn't go outside.

Nolan winced. "Part of the protection is actually for us," he tried to explain. "We know she's contaminated."

There had been the Roentgen examination first thing and Belle had lit up like a Solstice Tree. No question. She had been infected.

"We don't know if The Infected can pass the nanobytes on to others, so we have to take precautions. We don't think so, but we just aren't sure. And we don't really know how much he can control her behavior. We think, well, we think he can pretty well make her do anything he wants. He could get her to run off with him. He could get her to blow up the castle. He could get her to shoot her best friend."

Mary didn't like what she was hearing, but recognized that Nolan was being honest with her. "So how do we help her?"

"There's an experimental treatment. It may get rid of the nanobytes. Belle's a good candidate. She's young, strong and newly contaminated. We hope she will agree to it."

"I understand. I don't like it, but I understand," she told him.

"Mary, you. . . I. . . uh. . . thank you," he finally stumbled out. "I think that you have been a good friend to Belle, standing with her, by her."

He was still hesitating over something. "What is it?" she asked him.

He couldn't look at her. "I want you to have a Roentgen examination."

"To see if I've been contaminated?"

"You've spent the most time with her of anyone. If she's infected anyone, it would most likely be you. It will give us a good index of how dangerous to others she might be."

Mary smiled at him. "If I can help, of course."

Now it was her turn to hesitate.

"I've also spent time with my step-mother."

Nolan was lost here. "I. . I don't understand."

"My step-mother is Queen Regina. You may well know that she has offered sanctuary to the airpirates and there are rumors, nothing substantiated, of course, that she and some of the captains, which could include Captain Gold, have been. . . uh. . . intimate."

Nolan considered, "So if you are contaminated, it might have come from your contact with your step-mother and not your best friend?"

Mary nodded.

"That does rather confound things. Well, we don't know about your step-mother for sure. I guess the first step is just to see if you're infected or not."

He couldn't stand the stricken expression on Mary's face. Impulsively, he reached out to her and hugged her, kissing her lightly on the forehead, wanting to kiss her on the mouth.

"Aren't you afraid I might infect you?" Mary asked him with a smile on her face.

"Terrified, but I don't like seeing you in so much distress. Mary, this is very forward of me, but I really like you and would like to uh. . . see you. . . more."

"I'd like to see more of you too, James," she addressed him by his first name. "Do you think your father would approve of me? I have such unsavory associations between my step-mother and now, Belle."

"I could give a damn about my father. What's he going to do? Cut me off. I wouldn't care," Nolan told her. He stood a moment holding her, wanting to do more. "Let's go get your examination right now."

She nodded. As they walked on to the makeship lab that had been set up in the castle, Mary asked him, "Does it hurt?"

0000—00—0000

"This was a good idea, Captain," Jefferson congratulated him and refilled his glass with rum. Jefferson looked around. They were at Gold's house in the town. The big one built in a quiet neighborhood. About three minutes from downtown on a hot vehicle. "There are a lot of pretty women in this town. Mallie, Regina, Hook's first mate. Have you seen her? Pretty blonde. Hook treats her like shit. I'm surprised she hasn't slit his throat. I keep trying but she won't give me the time of day."

"The little duchess? You don't usually have trouble with women," Gold noted, genuinely surprised. "I mean, I've never known you to sleep alone unless you wanted to."

"Well, that's true enough. It's usually a matter of me deciding which one I want. How about you Captain? You're able to buy any woman you want. I know you were having some feelings for that little princess. Got her out of your head yet?"

Gold shook his head. "I wish. I keep feeling her, smelling her, tasting her. What shall I do Jefferson? What can I do to get her out of my head?"

"Ah," responded his first mate. "Get royally drunk. Find a willing doxy and have a good roll in the hay, fuck her until you can't stand up or she can't stand up."

"But I don't want just a willing doxy. I want a lady, a certain lady."

"Well then, you have got it bad. You really need something a little extra special. Give me a half hour."

"I don't think so, Jefferson. Your 'extra special' stuff puts me nearly out. I've gotten hit with Tesla guns that did less damage."

"I'll go mellow, Captain. Promise," and the tall first mate gave him a thumbs up and left the most dangerous man on the planet by himself.

_Fretting over a little slip of a girl. If he'd only had a little more time with her, he could have made her come for him and probably gotten her to come with him. She had been all softened up by the shadow lover dreams. But now that Captain Blue Eyes was on the scene there'd be a wall ten feet thick around her. He should have let the man go down with his ship._

He sat back. _Oh fuck it! Jefferson was right. He could get any woman that he wanted. Not like she's got something they don't have. _

_Just perfect skin, cornflower blue eyes, silky, long chestnut hair, a pert little body with generous tits and a great ass. _

"Well hell!" he told himself. Plenty of great looking women on site to choose from. Just get one and have at it. None of them were likely to be prissy little virgins that needed to be wooed and soothed. He could lose himself in anyone of a number of women. Willing, warm, beautiful women. Well, at least they knew how to pretend to be willing with him. He just had to pay them enough.

Most of them had heard the rumors that time with him resulted in possession. So he had to pay them extra. He had learned over time how to not share his nanobytes. No one, not even Jefferson, knew that he had that particular trick. He only gave them to the people he wanted to, people he wanted to heal or, more likely, people he wanted to control. He had learned to be careful - it usually only took one to three hundred to get the impact he wanted. He had quickly discovered the more of his nanobytes in a person, the more powerfully connected with them he was. Too many could make for a painful connection; if anything happened to the person, then he would feel it too.

He stood up, his mind made up.

_Right now, he just wanted to get a whore that didn't have blue eyes._

As he headed toward the door of his cabin there was a knock.

"Capt'n Gold. Got some'in for ya."

He instinctively ducked, even though it was unlikely that anything could get through the fields of power he had put around his door, and even if it could, it probably couldn't hurt him.

"Please open up sir. It's quite a 'andful."

He _reached _out. It was Smee, Sharky, and Bones, three slime-dogs that belonged to Hook's crew. Together they didn't have enough psi energy to light a match. They did have something with them, though. Something that did have enough psi energy to light a house on fire.

He opened the door. The three reprobates stood with a large sack held up between them. They marched right past him and without ceremony let the sack fall, fall onto his living room floor. It lay where it had fallen.

Smee turned to him, "Compliments of Capt'n 'ook," Smee began. "'E wanted to thank 'e for the favor you'd done him awhile back there with Miss Regina. 'E said you could 'ave this one for the night," he nodded at the sack. "Don't kill 'er or break 'er bones, please."

Smee and his companions gave him a bow and left, obviously in a hurry to get out of the presence of The Dark Man.

Gingerly, Gold looked the crumpled sack over. He gently unfastened the top of the bag and pulled it down over the top of figure.

"Son of a bitch," he said under his breath. Hook had delivered his spirited, belligerent first mate, bound up and drugged, into his tender mercies. She was unconscious and well trussed up with her hands pulled together behind her back. A rope had been tied around her arms holding them close into her body. Another rope had been tied around her legs and a final one was around her ankles.

She must have pissed him off. . . again. Probably had turned down his advances. . . again. Hook would have thought this a fine joke, on both of them. This particular first mate had always regarded himself with a measure of respect, taking care to keep her distance from him. He, in turn, had always thought the first mate was a splendid looking female, but, as a member of another crew, particularly a crew in which he was at odds with their captain, he had tended to give her a wide berth.

_Now he had her and under his power. According to the pirate code, he could do with her as he would. . . for the night. _

"Duchess," he called her what he had always called her.

The woman had been, among other things, thoroughly gagged. Gold held her up and slowly began to pull the bag off her body. Most of her clothes had been removed, her boots, stockings, pants and overshirt. They had left on some skimpy undies _why Duchess! I never would have expected you were the lacey underwear type_. Her top had been cut down the front, her delicate skin nicked with a knife. _Son of a bitch! Marring such a beautiful package. The man was a barbarian. _Of course her breasts were only just barely covered by the fabric hanging from her shoulders and bound in by the ropes close into her body.

There were bruises spreading out from her arms, her stomach, her face. _Looked like he'd knocked her around pretty harshly. Probably had to wait until he'd gotten her drugged and unconscious. Or had had to rely on two of his men holding her down while he did his worst. _He turned her over and wedged his hand between her legs. No blood. Not sticky. Maybe Jones had spared her rape.

Most of her weapons appeared to have been removed. He knew she carried plenty. There was still one stiletto knife strapped to her thigh. And a small flat penknife, sturdily encased in the small of her back.

He considered. Still likely bleeding internally and also still unconscious. Not a good combination. He knew she wouldn't like it but he needed to do something. He could do it with a kiss but an opening in the skin would be better. The nanobytes would go right into the blood stream where they did their best work. He looked her over. Where had he seen it? There, right on the inside of her left breast was a nick _probably from Jones's hook. _It was still oozing blood. _Perfect._

He lightly touched each breast, holding them steady while he ran his tongue over the cut. He nuzzled his nose into the tender flesh of her breasts. He _willed _some of his oldest, best healers through his saliva into her body. They would take care of her. Stop the bleeding. Repair the damage. Pull her back to consciousness. _Of course, they could also make her one of his possessions, a will-less slave, if he should so choose to exercise his powers over her. Not something he did lightly and then usually only to his enemies. _

He pulled his hands back, albeit a bit reluctantly. _She did have splendid breasts._ She didn't have to know. He watched as she quickly began to moan and thrash, regaining awareness. Her eyes began to flutter open. She was startled and confused seeing him bending over her.

He spoke softly to her. "Duchess, I'm going to cut the gag off. It's tied too tight for me to unknot it." He held up his own knife so she could see it. She managed a quick nod and held still for him. Very carefully, very gently, he began to cut the nasty rag that Jones had used. It took him a moment. He didn't want to cut her face. Once he'd gotten through the rag, he removed it from around her head. He then reached into her mouth to help remove the wet wadding that Jones had crammed into her mouth.

After making some gagging sounds, the first words the duchess shared were, "Damn, did the man pee on the rag before he stuffed it in my mouth?" She began to spit, trying to get the taste out of her mouth.

Gold got up and went over to his kitchen. "I'll get you some brandy to help wash the taste out." He mixed it with some water and with both wet and dry cloths went over to the woman. He helped her sit up and held the glass to her mouth. She was able to get a sip into her mouth, swirl it around and spit it out. He gave another sip to drink. He then wiped the drool and snot from her face and dried her off.

"Better now?" he asked.

She regarded him a moment. She finally nodded. "You aren't going to untie me, are you?"

"Not just yet, Duchess. I want some answers. Hook just delivered you to me for an evening's entertainment," he explained.

She absorbed this information and nodded. "He's a sorry-ass son of bitch. So what are you going to do with me?" she asked in a quiet, low tone.

He looked her over. She was a beautiful woman and, no question, he had every right over her at the moment. "I must tell you, I'm very tempted. You're very lovely," he traced his hand down her hair. Such pretty blond hair.

_And her eyes weren't blue._

**A.N. I am blessed with the most insightful, perceptive reviewers (not that I don't also appreciate all those 'followers' too). I'm also finding that having insightful, perceptive reviewers is a bit of a double-edged sword (I can't screw up in the slightest – somebody will catch it – but yes, thank you).**

**Thx to the Prince's Phoenix, Grappling Fancies and scifigeek10 (thank you all for your lovely comments) **

**Also To: Guest Who (Guest) and Hermitess (Guest) (for the on-target comments for concerns about Belle's situation)(and you're right about the name, I'd like to say that alcohol was involved, but no such luck) – I hope the 'shadow lover' questions were answered in this chapter.**

**and**

**Reviewer (Guest) (Nolan's really a good guy but has a dirty job to do; hope Gold's response was satisfying enough for you),**

_NEXT: Gold makes a choice_

_Nolan has some reservations _


	5. Decision

_Unable to resist the charms of the beautiful princess, the pirate Captain Gold, aka The Dark Man, has found his way, with the help of his nanobytes, into her private bed chamber. But his seduction is interrupted by an urgent visit from Captain James Nolan-Spencer, special emissary from the Ministry's Home Office, and the Princess Belle has been saved from being further compromised. But now the innocent princess has been taken into the protective custody of the Ministry, a questionable fate for certain._

_Frustrated, the pirate captain has returned to a safe harbor, overseen by Princess Mary's opportunistic step-mother, Queen Regina. At the point when he is about to seek relief with some alternate feminine companionship, one of his enemies has delivered his own beautiful, but defiant, first mate into Gold's power._

_Gold now has to choose. _

**Falling**

**Chapter Five**

**Decisions**

_Her eyes weren't blue._

As he recalled they were an emerald green.

It was a point in favor of his proceeding with her as his appetites might direct. Still not quite sure what direction he would go with her, he thought it better she remained tied, at least for a while, in his presence. He wanted to be sure she knew herself at his mercy. He sat down in a chair next to her.

"What did you do to piss him off?" he asked her.

His duchess had managed to struggle into a sitting position. She wasn't quite able to pull her knees up. Her top, between the ropes fastening her arms to her trunk, had pulled open and he couldn't help but notice how much of her lovely upper torso was revealed to him.

"He was drunk. He tried to rape me again and I nearly gutted him. I think it wouldn't have been so bad except his crew witnessed me kicking his ass. He told me he would get even with me, that he would have me punished in a way that would get my attention and, perhaps, make me appreciate his embraces. He began to knock me around and then I woke up here. . .with you." She didn't make eye contact with him. She did tug on the ropes tying her hands together.

"Why do you stay with him, Duchess?" he had to ask her. She was competent, excellent in combat, good at commanding men. He would have her aboard his ship in a heartbeat.

"I made an ill-conceived bargain after my. . . I had gotten into a little trouble. I needed a job and he offered me one. I know he thought he would be able to get me into his bed but I haven't let that happen. I agreed to stay on his ship for three years."

"If he wanted to get you into his bed, I would have thought he would have kept you on doing a cabin boy's duties. How did you get to be first mate?" he was genuinely curious. This position was usually held by someone the captain could trust.

"No one else on board can do the job. They're all drunken, stupid no-accounts, completely undependable, irresponsible and incompetent. He knows, despite what I think about him or the rest of his crew, that I will get the job done."

"How much longer do you have with him?" Gold asked her.

"About six months."

"You will come and see me when your contract is up?"

She looked up at him. "You already have a first officer."

"I would find you another position," he told her.

The woman snorted.

"Not on your back," he smiled. "Unless that was what you wanted." He gave her a smirk.

She tossed her head, getting her hair off her face. "So what are you going to do with me?" She met his eyes, defiance shining through.

"Well," he sat back and considered, his eyes slowly roaming over her sumptuous curves. "When you were dropped off at my door, I was about to go out and find a woman for some evening's entertainment. Some might consider your timely arrival as fate taking a hand."

She looked him squarely in the eyes. "I never had you pegged as a rapist, Gold. I thought you were a much smoother operator."

"I've never had to force a woman," he told her. "They always come around."

"So are you going to put me under one of your spells?"

"I don't have any spells," he responded to her blandly.

"Hah! You have some sort of magnetic crap you pull out. I've seen you do it. You can freeze people, make them warm to you, any number of things. I've seen you do it," the duchess insisted.

"I could make you come around, warm to me," he admitted, repeating her words. "You are already ready for me, Duchess. You're hot and soft and, I would guess if I touched you, you'd be wet."

She dropped her eyes and shifted as she could. She was clearly uncomfortable. "I'm not interested."

"Shall I prove it to you?" He leaned towards her.

Alarmed, she shook her head. "Oh, please don't."

He stopped, "You're interested. Admit it."

She continued to squirm. "All right, you asshole. I do find you. . . interesting. Kind of attractive. You're powerful and rich. . . and almost magical. And I'm helpless and bound and I probably couldn't resist you if you came on to me."

"Well now, that's nice to know." He leaned back again and silently debated what to do. One of the most attractive women in the land. His for the having. And he could make her respond to him. No question about that. _What to do._

There was another knock on the door. He glanced over to the door and sighed. _Popular tonight._

It was his first mate, Jefferson. "Let me in Captain. I've got something for you."

Gold glanced at his duchess, half naked, well almost entirely naked, tied up on his floor. He shrugged. Well, Jefferson had caught him with worse.

He opened the door.

Jefferson breezed in. "It's so damn hard to find anything that will have any impact on you with the bazillion nanobytes you have swimming around inside. They seem to counter-effect almost everything." He pulled a bottle out of his coat. "Except some of the most newest stuff and. . ." he suddenly noticed the woman on the carpet. "Why do you have the incomparable Emma Swan trussed up and nearly stripped off on your living room floor? You haven't gone and done something we'll both regret, have you?"

"She's a gift from her captain." Gold moved back to his chair. "I don't even know if you were aware of a little episode I had with Regina recently. She had raised her rates and the other captains had asked me to go and, uh, 'reason' with her. We 'reasoned' together for about two hours and I got her to come down a little on her rates. I was still pretty irritated and I left her. . . rather incapacitated. Hook came in and I directed him back to her playroom. She's more his style than mine, anyway. He apparently appreciated the gesture and thought that this might be a little payback." Gold paused a moment and then added with a nod at Emma, "Oh yeah, and he's pissed at the Duchess."

"Tried to kill him again, huh?" Jefferson guessed. "Well, I was going to suggest we go down to the wharf, to Cora's place, but you won't find anything finer there than what you already have here." He tilted his hat at Emma, "Ma'am."

Emma shot him a look that if there had been any substance to it would have fried the man on the spot.

Jefferson just smiled back at her.

Meanwhile, Gold had taken the little bottle his first mate had offered him and, after opening it and sniffing it, had got up and began to usher him out. Jefferson stopped a moment. "You wouldn't consider sharing her, would you? I've been trying to get a piece of that since she first came on board Jones's ship, but she's one of the few women who's turned me down. We could make a nice little Emma sandwich."

"I have the incomparable Emma Swan in my power and you think I'd want to share her?" Gold asked him, using his own words to come back at him.

"Well, I just got you some prime stuff that your nanobytes shouldn't be able to eat up as soon as you pump it in your system. You'd think that would get me one roll in the hay."

Gold was shaking his head and began to push his first mate toward his front door. "How about you let me just put my face between her legs for a moment?" Jefferson wheedled.

Gold shoved him out the door.

"Can't I even cop a feel?" he asked plaintively.

Gold shut the door behind him.

They both heard Jefferson as he made one last entreaty, "How 'bout if I just watch?"

Gold turned and addressed his duchess. "You know, a clever woman could make that man her bitch."

"If a woman wanted a bitch," Emma said quietly.

He smiled and walked back to his trussed up prisoner. "Whatever am I to do with you? Duchess, if this had happened a month ago, I promise you that you'd be on your back with your ankles over my shoulders by now."

To her credit she only flinched slightly. In an even tone, she managed to ask, "So what's different now?"

"I've met someone."

"Ah," was all she said.

"Not that I have any relevancy to her life, but now that it comes down to it, somehow I feel that if I take another woman then I'd be betraying her. Like I'd been unfaithful."

"How does she feel about you?"

"Like I'm some sort of exotic . . ." he considered "diversion." He straddled the chair next to his duchess. "She's been sheltered and pampered. She's never met anyone like me and I 'intrigue' her."

"Gold, no one has ever met anybody like you," Emma informed him, then, "Listen. I'll make you a deal. I'm beginning to go completely numb and cramp up some. If you would release me or at least loosen some of these ropes, I'll be happy to make you a cup of tea and we can talk about this girl."

He looked her over. _What the hell was wrong with him? A month ago, he'd have taken this woman without a second thought. She was still here, in his power, nearly naked, astonishingly beautiful and, he was sure, he could render her absolutely helpless with little effort on his part. She would respond to him, he could tell. He could make her scream and cry his name out. He could have her over and over, many times, many different ways throughout the night. _

_It was what he wanted to do._

_So why didn't he just do it?_

He closed his eyes.

_Belle._

He opened his eyes.

"All right, duchess," and he went over and began to untie her.

Emma willed herself to be still. The man's hands were warm and gentle. He was clever with his fingers and the thought of how those fingers might have been used to tease her into a frenzy came to mind. She thought of the poor girl he had developed a fascination for. Poor thing. He would be irresistible if he set his mind to seduction. She hoped the girl had some protection, physical, mental and/or spiritual, or she would be doomed. She would fall in love with the man, he'd use her and then abandon her. That's what men did.

Gold finished untying his duchess and began to rub her legs and ankles. She tried to pull the savaged remains of her top together to cover herself, but was having limited success.

He glanced as her, noticing her gesture. "Give me a moment. Maybe I can get you something to put on."

"Thank you," she told him, genuinely grateful. She tried to pull away from him, but he was remained persistent with his attentions, rubbing each arm now.

"I think I'm ok," she told him, still trying to pull away from him.

"In a moment, Emma. In a moment."

_The bastard seemed to be enjoying himself. Although she had to admit that he was making her feel better. So many of her aches and pains were feeling better. She remembered, with the beating Jones had given her, that she had been afraid she'd start bleeding internally. Hell, she had been afraid that he'd kill her. _Emma glanced at her body so well revealed at the moment. _She should be covered with bruises! Why wasn't she covered with bruises?!_

She pulled back _finally successfully_. "What did you do to me?" she asked him.

"I untied you," he was intentionally not understanding her.

"No. I should be covered with bruises. Jones beat me up. What happened? What did you do?"

"I don't understand," he was avoiding her question. _Maybe he should kiss her, take her mind off the issue. _He wavered. _One kiss wouldn't hurt anything. He wouldn't feel guilty about one little kiss. _He started to pull her towards him, but she resisted.

"No, no, no! You put some of those god damn nanobitey thingys inside of me! They healed me up and now . . . "

He held his finger to his lips, "Shhhh, Emma. You're going to be all right."

She was pushing against him in earnest. "No, you bastard! You've contaminated me! Get them out. Get them out! I know what you can do to people you've put your nanobitches into. Please, please, please, Captain! Please get them out."

He stopped trying to pull her to him. "You'll hurt. They haven't finished doing their job," he warned her.

"I want them out! Please." Her green eyes were filled with tears. "Please, I can't stand it knowing those things are inside of me."

He nodded and disregarding her reluctance at the clear intimacy of the gesture, he placed his hand between her breasts over the cut. "Be still," he commanded her. He sat quietly calling back his healers. He bent and lathed his tongue over the cut between her breasts, holding them apart to grant him access to the slash. When he straightened up he left his hands on her breasts running his thumbs over her hardened nipples. He gave her a quick smile, a gentle squeeze, and then released her. "All right, now?" he asked.

Emma winced as pain returned with the absence of the nanobytes. She covered herself as she could with the remnants of her torn top. She allowed Gold to help her to her feet. "Yeah, I guess," she answered, still regarding him suspiciously.

_Well, he had called back _almost_ all his babies, certainly all the healers. But he had left a few sleeper bots in her system. No sense in completely relinquishing his advantage over the pretty first officer. But she wouldn't be like the others unless he gave his little friends a wakeup call. _

"I'll get you something to wear," he told her and went into his bedroom. It was a moment before he reappeared. He had some black pants and a black undershirt.

"Try these," he told her handing them off to her. Emma gratefully slipped on the pants. Too big in the waist. She reached over and pulled up one of the pieces of rope the Captain had removed from her and threaded it through the belt loops. It worked fine as a belt. The undershirt covered her but fit snuggly, and in some ways she felt more revealed as the thin shirt outlined the curves of her breasts. She could see her nipples that he had wickedly stimulated poking against the fabric. It took her a moment. She turned her back to him, slipping off the undershirt and the remnants of her own damaged top. She slipped on the undershirt and then used the top as a vest. That combination worked well enough and made things a little more decent.

She went on into the man's kitchen.

"What are you doing?" she heard him ask her.

"I told you that if you untied me, I'd fix you a cup of tea and we could talk about your girl problems."

"Oh yeah. I'd forgotten that." He followed her.

"Tell me about her," Emma directed him, as she busied herself, getting familiar with his kitchen. The place was a mess. It looked to Emma as if he never had anything washed up, maybe he just bought new dishes. There were stacks of plates and cups. She found a kettle and filled it with water and, after determining his was one of the new gas powered stoves, lit a burner and got the water set to boil. She found some tea already in small linen bags in a canister. She started to look for some cups.

As she worked, Gold proceeded to tell her the story of his liaison with Belle, his growing fascination with the young princess and all about his second visit with her. _Not about the shadow lover visits he had engineered._

"I would have been able to get her to come with me if I had just had a little more time. But there's this special task force after me. They think I'm dangerous. One of them showed up."

"Aren't you afraid they'll use your interest in this girl and use her as bait to take you down?" Emma asked him.

"Hell yeah. But I can't stop thinking about her. How she felt. How she kissed me back. How she smelt. How she looked at me with her big blue eyes. I mean I've known the wench for less than an hour total and I'm obsessed with her."

"Sounds like love at first sight," Emma explained.

"That's crap," Gold responded and rolled his eyes. "What fairytale do you live in?"

Emma had rummaged through his cupboards and had found some cups. She was watching the water. It had started to boil and she poured it into the cups over the tea bags. She made eye contact with the Captain.

"Don't you believe in love?"

"It's rare, really rare. I think that mostly what we call love is physical infatuation, desire, lust, animal propensities. You go to bed with a hot little number and wake up in the morning and it's over and you can't get out of there fast enough."

Emma laughed at him. "Oh, you are quite the sweet talker. I take it you've never woken up with a hot little number and she's still a hot little number?"

"No. Usually she just wants her money so she can go."

Emma stopped what she was doing. "You only sleep with women that you pay for?"

He looked at her. "It's neater that way. If you get feelings, they get in the way. It gets messy. And. . ." He looked away from her, "women don't get into my bed exactly willingly. I have to make it worth their while. Power, money, a favor, something."

Emma was appalled, "That's been your experience?!"

"Emma, my dear, most women consider me some kind of monster. You do, I can tell."

"Yeah, but only because I know about the nanobytes and the possession thing that can happen. Otherwise, I think I'd find you . . . well, you're attractive, really attractive, actually."

He shook his head, obviously not believing her. "Women can't be trusted," he told her.

"And men can be?" she asked him.

He laughed, "I guess that neither one of us have done well with the opposite sex."

Emma nodded, "Here's to a lack of trust," she raised her cup and he took his own cup and toasted her. "But getting back to your young woman. From what you've said you've known her less than an hour, but you've become obsessed with her. So obsessed you gave up, what was it that Jefferson called it, 'a roll in the hay' with me, so obsessed that you're willing to put your freedom, your life on the line." She turned back to the tea, "Still sounds to me that you've fallen in love."

"Fallen in love? Even if that was true, which I'm not saying it is, she's not fallen in love with me. So what hope do I have?"

"How do you know she's not in love with you?"

"Well, look at me. Why would she be in love with me? I've told you, women look at me and see a monster"

Emma sighed._ The man really didn't know._

She folded her arms across her chest. "No, you look at yourself and see a monster. When women look at you. . .oh, I can think of any number of reasons for her to be in love with you."

"Hah!" he told her. "Name two."

Emma leaned forward. "You're immensely interesting, easily the most interesting person I've ever met and I've gotten around some. I would think a sheltered princess would find you nearly overwhelmingly interesting, dare I say it? 'intriguing'."

He glared at her, "And?"

"You're sexy as hell," Emma finished and took the tea bags out of both cups and set them aside. "If she's a virgin, which I'm guessing she is, she would be finding you irresistibly seductive. I mean I'm a woman of some experience and I find you. . . alluring – well except for the nanobyte possession thing, but she doesn't know anything about that, does she?"

"She probably does by now. But, of course, for that, it's too late. She's already attached to me," he confessed and gave Emma a little smile.

"Eeuuh," Emma replied. "Of course she is. And now I'm sorry for her. This won't go well for her with her own people, you know that?"

He hung his head. "Yes, I know that."

Emma sipped the tea and made a face, "Needs sugar. Do you have any?"

He pointed her to a canister set on the back of the counter. She added some to hers and, when he held his cup out to her, to his as well.

She sipped the tea again, satisfied with it. She thought a moment, "Well, speaking of being attached, how do we get out of our situation here and now, with our dignities intact? I don't think we can tell the truth."

"That we spent the evening in an intelligent adult discussion. That would hardly work in either of our favors," he agreed.

"So what do we do?" she asked. "What do we say?"

Gold thought a moment. "Well, how does this sound? I was rather pleased with finding you, the incomparable Miss Emma Swan, naked and tied up, but not being one to force myself on a helpless woman, I untied you."

"Oh, I hope that finding myself untied that I fought you?" she asked, delighting in the development of an acceptably plausible account of the evening.

"Like a wildcat, a tigress," he agreed. "But, being stronger than you and, despite your very best efforts, being a better fighter than you, the end was inevitable. I overcame you and all of your resistance and then spent some time convincing you to be mine."

"And you were very thorough, I hope." Emma added, "Taking your time. Using all your expertise. Took me on an amazing ride."

"Amazing," he agreed. "In the end, we spent the night in mutual debauchery."

"And things ended up with some reciprocated admiration," Emma finished. "I can live with that."

He toasted her with his cup of tea, "Me too." He became serious a moment. "Emma, are you sure you don't want me to buy out your contract with Hook? I don't like you going back there."

Emma considered. "But I would probably owe you more than the six months if you bought me out."

He smiled at her and nodded in agreement, "Damn straight."

"And I wouldn't be your first mate."

He shook his head, "No, sorry. Job's taken."

Emma sighed. "I don't know that I'd be any safer as a member of your crew. There's the fact the entire planet's police force and every military group is gunning for you. And there's always the risk of nanobyte infection."

"Understand, but if you change your mind, there's an open door," The two settled in for the night. Emma took one the couches, sweeping the sundry things that were not couch off of it, even though Gold had offered her the bed. _Might have some nanobugs in there, don't know if he sheds them. No thanks._

0000—00—0000

Nolan sat in the Admiral's office. He was troubled.

"Are you sure, ma'am? Are you sure?"

The Admiral nodded. "It's the very best we can offer to her right now, I'm afraid. The treatment is very new but Dr. Steiner feels it shows great promise."

She went back to her paperwork, but the young captain had not moved. Clearly something was still troubling him.

"Yes, Captain?" the Admiral finally asked him.

"I was wondering. After the original incident with Rumach Skinner, did anyone. . . did anyone. . .?"

The Admiral had put down her new Waterman fountain pen, "Yes?"

"Did anyone try it again? Try to infuse someone with a million nanobytes?"

The Admiral sat quietly a moment. "Yes, yes they did. Zosa's people tried it first. When they saw what crawled out of the tank, as powerful as Mr. Skinner was even in those first few hours, they immediately began to see the profit in it and several of their people volunteered to go into the vat."

When she didn't say anything else, Captain Nolan had to ask, "What happened to them?"

"The reports indicated that, just like it had when Mr. Skinner's body was dumped into the vat, when the volunteers entered the vat, it bubbled and frothed, looked like it was boiling."

"And?"

"No one crawled out. They began to drag some hooks into the vat and. . . "

"Yes ma'am?"

"There was nothing left. The nanobytes had consumed the bodies."

"Did, uh, did they keep trying?"

"They did, but not with volunteers. But it always came out the same," the Admiral picked up her new pen and went back to her paperwork.

"They died?"

"They died," the Admiral confirmed.

Nolan sat quietly for a while. "So why do they think that Mr. Skinner survived? Because somehow the nanobytes recognized him as their savior?"

"That's the prevailing theory," the Admiral agreed.

"Thank you Admiral." The Captain rose and saluted the Admiral. He was still not satisfied. There was something else, but he couldn't figure out what it might be. Not yet. He didn't even know what questions to ask.

_The Admiral watched him go. That was the problem with smart assistants. They could be too smart, too inquisitive, too damn nosey. It looked like Captain James Nolan-Spener might have just fallen from her graces. He could be becoming a liability. She would have to watch him. He was beginning to ask questions, too many questions. _

**A.N. Despite the business of the season I (again) received some wonderful reviews from some of you. (Thank you Thank you – I always remain amazed that anyone reads anything I write and for people to comment favorably on my work, is like getting precious little presents). (And this is actually my time off from both my regular day job and my evening teaching job, so I have more time for writing – normally I don't post more than once a week)**

**To: Vinaplains (for your chapter three review, which came in as I was posting chapter four). It is an odd genre and a bit of a stretch I know, not everyone's cup of tea, but hope it stays interesting for you. **

**To: reviewer (Guest), Leafena, The Prince's Phoenix, Ying-Fa-dono, scifigeek10, Grace5231973, and paulawer – Thank you all for your very kind comments. I hope you were all happy with Gold's response to his little moral dilemma. More about the nanobytes as the story goes on.**

**Special thanks to Hermitess: I did incorporate your concerns regarding how Emma got to be Hook's first mate into this story (I think of Hook as more of a glandular thinker than a cerebral one and I see him making decisions based on expediency rather than thinking things through, so I just added a couple of comments that I hoped explained the situation**_**.)**_

_NEXT: __Emma gets a break_

_Belle undergoes 'treatment'_

_The treatment has consequences _


	6. Treatment

_Captain Gold decided, for reasons that he doesn't quite understand himself, to forgo the pleasures that the lovely Miss Swan might have offered. But he has rejected her explanation that he may be "in love," calling it "a fairytale." He and the redoubtable Miss Swan form a loose alliance._

_In the meantime, Captain Nolan has begun to have second thoughts about Operation Cobra and the means to which the organization is willing to commit to reach their goal. _

_Princess Belle is being propelled towards 'treatment' for the eradication of her incidious "infection" of nanobytes._

**Falling**

**Chapter Six (this chapter contains pretty realistic descriptions of a medical procedure, so those of you with trypanophobic tendencies - that's fear of needles - may want to skip over some of the gory details)**

**Treatment**

Ooo-0o0-ooO

Captain Jones was none too happy to see his first mate, alive, healthy and _damn she was_ _smiling,_ being brought back to his hotel as a passenger riding in Gold's new De Dion quadricycle. He had been notified by the ever-obsequious Smee that she was coming back. Jones was able to see from his second story window that his First Mate Emma was now attired in high-buttoned boots, a smart red traveling skirt with a black corset cinching her waist and all was topped with a embroidered velvet frock coat. The devil had apparently taken her shopping and had managed to get her out of leather, except for that delightful corset and had even gotten her into something besides pants. She was wearing a fine netted and feathered fascinator for her head, a feminine touch Jones had never thought he'd see her embrace.

She looked great.

None the worse for spending a night being bedded by one of the great libertines who likely had forced her to engage in all sorts of exotic nastiness.

She looked great.

None the worse for almost certainly have been infected with Gold's nano-pissing-bots.

She looked great.

Gold, acting like he was a gentleman, had alighted to help her off the seat of the quadricycle. He was dressed, as always, in his black attire, top to bottom. He looked grim as he helped Emma out and placing his hand on her back, gently escorted her into the hotel.

Jones knew he would have to face the demon. _Damn, they looked entirely too chummy._

Jones left his room and started down the wide marbled main stairs of the hotel which went straight into the lobby. He could see them as they entered the lobby. Gold saw him first and Emma, seeing his glance, also turned.

"Captain," she greeted him. "I'm back. And in one piece. As you can see." She smiled brightly at him.

_Bitch. _"I see," Jones answered her.

"Emma, my dear, the offer still stands," he could hear Gold talking to Emma in a low voice.

_Too chummy by far._

"I'll be fine. I think Captain Jones now has a better understanding of my position within his organization. At least what I'm capable of." Emma then smiled at the imp, and kissed him long and leisurely along the neck and jawline.

Gold took her hand and placed a kiss on her palm as she stepped away from him. He then turned to look at Jones.

"I trust you will not make a similar mistake with Miss Swan again?" he said to Jones. "I will know."

_Damn nano-weiners. _He_ had infected her and now she was effectively a spy for _him_. Anything that happened to her would be known to_ him_. Any of Jones's own business that she was involved in would be known to _him_. Everything would be an open book if Emma Swan was in the room._

_What the hell had he been thinking dumping her on Gold's doorstep? How drunk had he been?_

_OK, so he had hoped they would have killed one or the other, or even both. Now he had a real problem. _

_There was only one thing to do. _

"Emma," he addressed his first mate. "I'm letting you out of your contract. I'm releasing you from your last six months." _It just wasn't worth the risks._

Emma cocked her head at the captain. "Oh now, Captain Jones there is no cause for that."

"I'm serious Emma. We're done. You're free and clear. I wash my hands of you."

Emma considered. _No problems here. There were plenty of other ships. Gold had offered her a post. She had some savings. She could afford to sit back awhile and consider the best offer. She smiled at Captain Jones. _

"Excellent, I'll be changing my quarters from this hotel to another, if you don't mind," she told him.

Jones understood her wanting to distance herself from him and his crew. Himself, he wanted her gone as soon as possible. "Go ahead and get your stuff right away," he directed her.

Emma nodded agreement and, smiling one last time at Gold, she turned and went up the stairs, passing Jones to get to her room to gather her minimal possessions.

Gold stood by. He waited until Emma was out of earshot and suddenly he was standing next to Jones. The younger, taller man had not seen the older man approach and was stunned to find him so close. "You will not try to hurt her again, will you?" Gold said through quiet, clenched teeth. "I would know. I would be. . .dismayed."

"I'm setting her free. I would hope that would be satisfactory."

The Dark Man looked at the brash, young captain. He stood still a moment and Jones began to feel nervous. _What was he thinking? What would he do?_

"It's satisfactory," finally came the reply. Gold turned to go.

Jones was surprised, to say the least, when he saw Gold fall, going down to his knees onto the thick carpeted floor of the lobby, gasping, obviously in pain, in agony.

000-o0o-000

Belle was chafing. It had been difficult enough when she was just a princess royal. Now she was a princess royal in danger. Her rooms had been changed to put her totally inside of the castle. And she was no longer allowed outside of her rooms. She was sent meals in her room and she could have only Home Office approved guests. She felt like a prisoner. She was being treated like a prisoner.

She was a prisoner.

They had explained that she had been contaminated by the Dark Man with a machine infection; that she could spread it to others, that he could use it to control her. She now spent her time reading, writing letters, playing cards and drawing pictures. Belle found herself drawing more and more pictures of The Dark Man. She found herself thinking more and more about him. His kisses, how she felt when she was around him. _Her feelings were so confused about the man. She was undeniably attracted to him, but knew he was very, very dangerous and they had no hope of a real relationship of any future together. _

Belle had been able to talk to the very attractive Captain Nolan, one of the few approved guests whose company she could stand. He told her what he could about the man who had turned her life upside down.

She was surprised to hear that he had once been a regular man. A nice man trying to do the right thing but one who'd been persecuted by larger, more powerful forces than himself, evil, dark forces. He had thwarted them all by daring to survive. From what Nolan could tell her, from what he had been told and what he had been able to research about the man, Gold had tried to do good for a long time, using his powers and skills, first as a healer, then as a scientist, but he had eventually become disgusted with the avarice and selfishness of other humans and decided to look out for himself. It was at that point he became the Dark Man and, after a shadowy career engaged in a variety of unsavory activities, he became a pirate. He became Captain Gold.

Captain Nolan also often shared things about himself. The bastard son of Archduke George Spencer, Nolan was not acknowledged until he was ten and then only after it was clear there would be no legitimate offspring, not even a daughter. Nolan had been sent to the best schools and educated as a gentlemen. He was trained in the courtly manners, but on his own he had sought out mathematics and engineering. Against his stern father's desires, Nolan had enlisted in the royal air navy. He had worked and achieved on his own merit. He took nothing from his father, whom he blamed for his mother's early death. He spent as little time as possible in his father's presence.

Belle knew that Mary thought he was most attractive. Mary was still allowed to visit her, even (or was it, especially?) after her Roentgen scan had come back clean. Belle didn't think she would have been able to stand the isolation if Mary hadn't been there nearly every day. Belle couldn't help but notice the she and Nolan would sometimes sit and just look at each other, like star-crossed lovers. They very obviously liked each other but their stations and responsibilities to their parents and their constituents held them back.

"Charming," was what Mary had taken to calling him. "Prince Charming."

It was late one afternoon when Belle was visited by a slender, dark-haired woman, wearing the dark blue uniform of the air navy and an admiral's insignia.

"My dear child. This has got to be so very difficult for you." The woman said to her, kindly.

"Being confined to my room? Well, I have my books, but I do miss the fresh air and sunshine."

"Well, perhaps I can help."

Belle was curious. "What would you do?"

"We have an experimental treatment that your father has approved for us to use on you. Now I need to get your approval."

"What is it?"

"It is a medicine that will be infused into you that will attach to the nanobytes and signal your body to destroy them. We have every reason to think that it works but, it might be. . .uncomfortable," the woman warned her.

"But if we can get them out, I won't have to stay under house arrest?"

"That's the plan," the admiral said to her, still smiling.

"It will kill the nanobytes then?" Belle had to ask.

"We think it will," the woman answered her.

Belle had one final question, "Will it hurt. . . him?"

"We don't know. We have no idea if he will be aware of anything, if he will feel anything."

Belle had no response to this. They had been telling her over and over again that her feelings for the Dark Man were likely part of the nanobyte infection, a product of the kiss she had so rashly acceded to. She had told no one of her shadow lover dreams (which had thankfully stopped since the Dark Man's last visit) but she wondered if they had also come from the infection.

Belle agreed to the treatment. _What choice did she have? _She meekly followed the admiral, with a sizeable collection of armed guards. Mary had insisted on going with her. Then her father briefly joined them.

"Did you agree?" he asked her.

"What choice did I have, father? To be confined forever or try this," Belle told him.

Her father nodded, obviously not feeling good about the decisions he had had to make on Belle's behalf. Infected by the Dark Man, she represented a danger to everyone. The Ministry had also explained to him something he had not shared with his daughter, that this behavior was very out of character for the Dark Man and there was the implication that he might very well have designs on the girl. He could use the nanobytes to track her. He could come after her, steal her away. The most precious thing in his kingdom.

They had to find a cure for the infection. They had to.

Belle was led into the Admiral's airship. It was larger than most military airships, as would befit an admiral. It seemed more luxurious than might be expected for a military vessel. The Admiral had assured her father that they would let him know when the treatment was over and he had returned to the castle.

"All right, Princess," she said to Belle, leading her off into one of the siderooms.

There was a man in a white coat there. He introduced himself as Dr. Steiner. This was his treatment. He had been working on it for some time. He requested Belle change her clothing into a simple white robe.

Belle hesitated. "I'll need assistance getting out of these clothes. May I get my friend Mary to assist?"

"Of course," the doctor readily agreed and requested that Mary be pulled from the waiting room.

Belle began to remove the long skirt and over-blouse. She then removed her boots and stockings. Mary helped her out of her corset. Belle decided to leave on her pantaloons and chemise under-garments and slipped the white robe over her head. Her feet were cold.

Mary walked out with her into the doctor's treatment room.

"Please sit in the chair," he said, then added as an afterthought, "your highness."

He turned to Mary. "You don't have to stay. The treatment will likely take several hours."

Mary protested. "I am happy to keep her company, and," she added, "it's not seemly for an unmarried woman to be left unchaperoned with a gentleman."

The doctor relented. "All right, you can sit in the chair over there. But this procedure will take a while," he repeated himself.

He turned back to Belle. "Please sit down in the chair."

Belle stepped on a small stool to get herself into 'the chair.' Hardly an ordinary chair. It was huge and long with armrests and foot rests.

"I'll need you to lay down," he directed and showed her how to recline the chair so that she was more or less lying down. The chair was covered in leather and was cold and unyielding.

She complied. The room was cold and, to her eyes, strangely lit with a yellow infused light, giving everything a sickly overtone.

He began to explain the procedure, "We are going to try to thrash, to beat, to flail these little blighters, these scourges from your system, your highness. We will infuse a chemical into your blood that should begin the neutralization process for the nanobytes. It should work to mark the nanobytes so that your own system will see them as invaders and then your own system should then begin the dispose of them. Your body will then pass them out."

"How long will it take?"

"We plan to do one lengthy procedure. It should last four to six hours, depending on how well you tolerate the infusion. We will be checking your blood thereafter for the next several days, even weeks and giving you Roentgen examinations to see if there are still viable nanobytes. If there are, we may need to do additional treatments."

"Will it hurt?"

"It may be unpleasant. I am going to give you a medicine that will make you sleepy, Rieveschl's Serum, so it will cause you less discomfort. Are you ready?"

Belle swallowed and nodded. _What choice did she have? _The doctor first tied a rubbery string around her arm and, after a moment of probing, took a couple of blood samples – to have something to compare later samples to, he explained. He then taped her arm to a board and inserted the infusion needle. Belle winced as the thick needle went into one of her veins. It was outright painful at first, but the pain receded after a few minutes to a dull ache. He wrapped gauze around her arm and the board to stabilize and imobilize them.

"First I'm going to give you the Serum that will make you sleepy. It's all right if you go to sleep. It may make things easier."

Belle nodded, understanding. She was still looking around the room.

She saw, next to her, that there was a tall rack, almost like a coat rack where the doctor had hung bottles upside down. The bottles had tubes coming through the stoppers in their mouths. One of the tubes he connected to the tube coming from the infusion needle and she felt the sleep serum going into her arm like ice water. She shivered.

Mary was there. "Any reason she can't have a blanket?" she asked.

"Oh, no, I guess that would not be a problem."

"And you keep blankets, where?" she asked him. _It was as if he didn't have any feelings or understanding of Belle as a patient. As a scared patient._ _As a very scared patient._

"In the supply room, out the door, right in the hallway. One of the assistants should be able to help you."

"I'll be right back, Belle," she promised.

Belle was already feeling groggy so she just gave her friend a weak smile.

She had a vague memory of when the nanocide medication went into her. Mary had placed several blankets on her and the bone-chilling numbness had abated. At first the infusion medicine was just uncomfortable, but the discomfort grew and after an hour, she had fallen into some real pain. She felt tears leaking from her eyes. She was nauseated and sleepy.

"I'm going to throw up."

Mary was again there with a bucket for her. "Go ahead, Belle, if you need to."

So sleepy, it was hard to keep her balance while sitting up in the reclining chair, while she retched into the bucket. Mary was still there to wipe her face for her.

OOO-ooo-OOO

Gold was writhing. Jones was not sure of what to do. This was behavior he had never seen in the Dark Man. He walked around him. The man seemed to be in some genuine pain.

Maybe he should do something.

Maybe he should just walk away.

_Not like he gave a shit._

He was about to abandon the dark captain when Emma reappeared. "I've got my stuff together," she was walking briskly down the stairs, carrying but a single bag. _The woman traveled light. _Emma stopped when she saw Gold and immediately went to his side, letting her bag fall next to her as she knelt on the hotel lobby carpet next to the obviously ill man.

"Gold? What's wrong? What can I do?" Jones heard her questioning him.

"It's Belle, Emma, my darling Belle. They're hurting her. They're destroying the nanobytes I gave her. I can feel them dying. I'm losing contact. I can feel them dying. It's all falling away," he spilled out his pain to her. He was holding onto Emma. She supported him, her face full of concern.

"Are you being damaged?" she asked him, not really understanding the relationship the man had with his myriad of tiny machines that coursed through his body and certainly not the ties he had with those he had infected.

He managed to shake his head, "No, but I feel them dying. The ones I gave her when I kissed her. My connection is falling away, it's failing. The Ministry. It's the Ministry. They don't want me to be in contact with her. They don't want me to be able to find her. They are afraid I will use her. They are afraid I will come after her. That I will take her away. Emma help me. I love her," He was not entirely aware of what he was saying. He was oblivious to his audience.

"Can you walk? I can get you into a bed here in the hotel," Emma helped him up and supported him as he struggled to his feet, still doubled over.

Emma snapped her fingers at one of the hotel managers. "Captain Gold needs a bed, immediately. You will be recompensed."

The hotel manager nodded, his eyes wide with fear. The Dark Man was frightening enough, but the Dark Man reeling in pain was terrifying. "There's a side room with a cot. The night manager rests there when business is slow. The guest rooms are all up stairs," he explained.

Emma nodded in agreement. "It will do," she assisted Gold as he was able to make his way behind the registry desk and into the small room with the night manager's cot. Emma helped him lay down. "I'll stay with you."

Jones stood by. He had witnessed, had seen everything, had heard everything. _So there is a woman he likes, he loves, Belle. And he's connected to her. They're doing something to her, to cure her nanobyte infection and it's crippling him. That's very interesting information._

_Very interesting. _

_Something that might be worth something to someone._

He began to call his crew in. They had a little trip to make.

000-000-000

Following the infusion, Belle was ill for two days, sleeping for the most part, drifting in and out of consciousness, sometimes waking up just enough to retch. Mary was in and out of her room as was the charming Captain Nolan.

"How is she doing?" Belle could hear someone whispering.

"Fine. She's still very groggy. Dr. Steiner keeps giving her the serum that makes her sleep. He says it will be easier on her. She wakes up to retch from time to time. I keep trying to get a little soup into her and some tea but she keeps nothing down. She ran a fever the first day but that seems to be down."

"Did the treatment work?"

"I hope so. This is a lot to go through if it didn't."

Belle was again pulled back into consciousness when Dr. Steiner came in to take blood (again). "We want to see if there are any viable nanobytes left in your bloodstream. It will give us a good feel if the treatment was effective. All of them have to be killed if this is to work. Just one replicating nanobyte could repopulate your system in a matter of hours. And we also have you scheduled for another Roentgen screening," he told her.

Belle allowed him to insert another needle into her arm and pull out some of her blood. She had almost gotten used to him taking her blood.

Then she drifted off again.

Oooooo000oooooO

Emma had stuck by Gold during The Ordeal. She corralled one of the bellboys who worked at the hotel and managed to send out messages. She was able to get in touch with Jefferson. He had been sleeping one off in another one of the many hotels on the waterside. He was a well-known figure, so it hadn't been hard to locate him. He had generously paid the hotel off and had carried the Dark Man back to the _Dark Wind._ Jefferson had not objected to Emma accompanying them back to the flagship.

"What the hell is wrong with him?" Emma had asked the First Mate.

"It's the downside of the nanobytes. He will remain connected with the ones that he has given a lot of nanobytes to, and often, if something happens to them, he can feel it."

"Are there a lot of people out there that he's infected?" Emma asked. _She still had concerns that he had left some of the nasty things inside of her._

"Not as many as you would think. Apparently he learned early on what would happen to him if someone he was linked to got into trouble. He is very careful now who he passes them on to," Jefferson explained. "I think he can control how many, what type and even if he passes them on to anyone. He's never admitted it to me, though."

"Are you saying he can control who he releases the nanobytes into?" Emma was surprised.

"I think so, it's not something he talks about. I know some of his, uh, victims, have developed some similar talents to his, so he got really careful about releasing them into just anybody."

Emma looked at the tall, somewhat strange, young man. "Is that what happened to you?"

"Is it so obvious?" he asked her, grinning.

"A bit," she admitted.

"I owe him everything," Jefferson told her, suddenly serious. "He's saved me several times over. His nanobytes have saved me. I don't regret anything."

Emma considered this. _A bit different perspective on the nanobytes things._

They stood by him. He was ill for two days, sleeping for the most part, drifting in and out of consciousness, sometimes waking up just enough to retch. Emma was in and out of his room as was the unpredictable Jefferson.

He began to wake up on the second day. "What's been going on?" he managed to gasp out. Before Emma could answer she heard him moan, "Belle."

"Can you still feel her?" Emma asked him.

"Barely. Barely. They killed almost all of the nanobytes." He rolled over and curled himself into a ball. "What am I going to do? I can't lose her.",

Emma made eye contact with Jefferson. _This was not good._

**A.N. Thanks again to those awesome reviewers (and for those of you who are part of the sudden influx of "followers" and "favorite" statuses (stati?) - very nice – thank you).**

**Thanks to Grace5231973, Vinaplains, thedoctorsgirl42, guest reviewer (Guest), The Prince's Phoenix, scifigeek10, Claire (Guest), Leafena, and Hermitess for their time and kind comments. **

_NEXT: The Admiral makes some decisions_

_Belle makes a desperate choice_

_Gold has an encounter (things start to heat up just a little - a long last)_


	7. A Rash and Desperate Decision

_Unwilling to risk that his competent first mate, Emma, may now be a minion of Captain Gold, Captain Jones has regretted his rash act of giving Emma over to the Dark One for the night. He has released Emma from the remainder of her contract with him._

_Belle has been subjected to the first 'treatment' and, unbeknownst to her, her nanobytes connections with Gold have caused him to experience painful symptoms. Ever-opportunistic Captain Jones sees the response Gold is having to the unknown tormentor and heard his confession of love for the lady. He has left Brookporte to sell this information to someone who will appreciate it. _

**FALLING**

**Chapter Seven**

**A Rash, Desperate Decision**

"Well?" the Vice Admiral wanted to know the results of the treatment.

Dr. Steiner shook his head. "Initially it looked very good. The number of nanobytes dropped dramatically, but each day since the number has increased. If the rate of reproduction continues she will be back to the original mass within a week."

"So it was a complete failure."

"I wouldn't say that. We learned some things. We need to use more of the nanocide, make it more concentrated. We need to let the treatment run longer. We may need to do multiple treatments back to back."

The Vice Admiral shook her head. "You could end up killing the patient if you did that. I saw how ill the girl was after your treatment."

"What sort of life does she have to look forward to now?" the doctor asked.

The Admiral considered and nodded her head. "Not much of one," she agreed. "But I think it's time we make a change, abandon Operation Cobra, and begin Operation Mole. Will you be able to make that work, get your part done?"

"I anticipated your request and the steps have been taken. Everything is ready. I just await your go-ahead."

"At your earliest convenience, then. Now we just need to find a way to re-connect her with the Dark Man. I will have to give that matter some thought."

"I understand that he has a fancy for this girl. You just need to arrange for her to escape and go to him," the doctor suggested.

"Of course, that is obvious. But how to do it, so that it's not so. . . obvious? As I said, I will have to give the matter some thought.

At that moment, an aide knocked on the admiral's door. She dismissed the doctor and had the aide come in. "Yes?"

"There is a man here to see you. He is identifying himself as Captain Killian Jones."

She shook her head, "I've never heard of him."

"He says you may know him as Captain Hook."

The Vice Admiral looked up sharply. "Let him in."

The attractive young man lounged at the door. "I thought you'd want to see me, luvvey."

"I'm planning on having you arrested, you know," She was not amused or impressed.

"Maybe, but I think not. I think I have some information that you may be interested in."

"What could you possibly know that I would want to know?"

"The whereabouts and a debilitiating weakness of a certain Captain Gold, whom you know as the Dark Man. I might be willing to make a deal."

The Vice Admiral stopped what she was doing. "Come in and sit down," she told the young pirate.

_This could be just what she was wanting._

Ooo -ooo-ooO

The pirate stood by watching things. This was perfectly delicious. As anticipated, they had paid him quite well for his information. Then the Admiral had contacted an aide and there had been a change of plans, one that involved him. He was to be given the chance to meet the mysterious Belle and from that point, it would be up to him. He was already with her, as her latest guest, when the creepy Dr. Steiner came in and gave her an injection.

"This should make you feel better, your highness," he told her. Belle submitted to the doctor, apparently from long practice.

Jones looked the girl over. Even after going through the rigors of The Treatment, she was still quite the little pastry. _He had to give the goblin some credit. She was delectable. _

He had gotten to meet her, smiling, bowing, exercising every bit of his considerable charm.

_It was so necessary to his plan that she trust him. _

Oh, but he could tell, the poor thing was so lonely, kept as a virtual prisoner. Not allowed out. Only selected visitors allowed. He just had to get her more or less alone.

He talked about his own ship, presenting himself as an enterprising merchant who had stopped by to see her father with news of the Dark Man's latest whereabouts (her father wanted to keep tabs on this particular pirate). Jones acted as if he did this type of thing regularly (acted surprised that they had not met before) and, yes, he was actually one of her father's dearest friends. He told her that it was her father who had thought she might want a bit of clever company and had suggested the handsome Captain visit with her a while. It was her father who had gotten Jones the necessary clearance.

Belle didn't question the implausibility of what Jones was telling her. She was desperate for company, any company and for news, any news. "Have you seen him, the Dark Man?" She couldn't stop herself from asking. She tried not to be too eager. _She was beginning to wonder if she was in love with the man. They'd only known each other such a short time. Was it still the workings of the damnable nanobytes? _

"Oh yes, he frequents a bar in Brookeport. Very preoccupied with a young woman he just encountered," he watched her reaction.

"Oh," was all she allowed herself to say.

Jones glanced around the room, looking over to the guards to be sure that he wasn't overheard. "He wants to see you again, your highness, desperate to see you again," he whispered to her. "I told him I would pass on some false information about his whereabouts and try to get in to see you and give his message to you."

Belle nearly gasped. "What does he want me to do? I'm a prisoner. I can't even get out into the castle gardens."

"I don't know. I wish there was some way you could walk out of here and I could take you to him," Jones looked at the floor. He spoke as if, of course as if, there would be no way, no possible way for her to consider such a thing. Even if they could get her out of her cell, well, a young respectable woman going off with a strange man. Of course not. Such a thing would not ever be considered. Could not be considered.

Belle considered.

_No, no, no. She couldn't possibly do this. To go off with this pretty young man that she had just met. To go off and find the exotic, erotic Dark One. _

_No, no, no._

_But her father had locked her up. She had undergone a painful, unpleasant 'cure.' She was still locked up and had no hope of ever, ever getting out of her cell. And they were wanting her to undergo additional 'cures.' Her future was to remain locked up forever or undergo repeated rounds of torture, which could still leave her locked up forever. If she wanted any kind of life, she had to get out of here. _

_And he had some credibility. Her father trusted him. The Ministry trusted him. He had passed clearance with them. He must be who he said he was._

"There are three guards at all times. They would have to be incapacitated. Would it be possible for us to. . . " she turned her large cornflower blue eyes on him.

"Princess, are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting?" he appeared scandalized.

"I have to get out of here. I'm being kept a prisoner. How can it be any worse out there than it already is in here? Please. If I can get them distracted, will you try to get me out on your ship?"

Jones shook his head. "I don't know. If we're caught. . ."

"I have a cloak I can wear that I wore when I first came here. Not much of a disguise, but the best I can do. It will only take a moment. How far away is your ship?"

"It's just down on the patio. A personal transport. But it will barely hold one person. I'm not even sure it can hold two people," Jones was allowing himself to be persuaded.

"Please, please, take me away from here, Captain Jones. If you know of anyway we could incapacitate the guards. We could leave right away."

Jones reluctantly shared that he did have a powder that could be used to take out all the guards. His job did have some unsavory aspects to it, he admitted and he kept the powder for dicey situations. They would just have to hold their breaths as they went by. Belle nodded in agreement. He could see how desperate she was. _This was almost too easy. He just needed to let the Admiral know about the plan. _

0000—oooo-0000

Nolan had come by earlier that morning to briefly to visit with Belle and then had to get back to his duties. She had seemed agitated, but maybe being imprisoned for so long was beginning to get to her. He always felt terribly guilty when he left the little princess. _This was wrong, terribly wrong. There had to be another way to manage the situation._

He had been able to connect with Princess Mary while they shared a sparse lunch gotten directly from the castle kitchens.

"There's no evidence that she's infected anyone. Why is she still locked up?" Mary had asked him.

He repeated what the Admiral had told him, "It's for her protection. They are afraid that he will come for her."

"Well," Mary spoke sternly, "I'm not so sure that that's not a good idea. She doesn't have anything left here. If he comes to get her, that would mean that he at least wants her, and maybe, just maybe, he wants her for more than just," she hesitated, "fun and games?" She wasn't quite as sheltered as her young friend, in part thanks to her step-mother's escapades, but still wasn't quite sure how a proper young woman should refer to a relationship based solely on sexual activity.

Nolan sat quietly, "I'm not so sure that him coming for her would be a bad idea, myself." He hesitated. "I've found a weapon that might take him down. He made the comment to me that people coming after him shouldn't be armed with iron-infused weapons. So I've suggested we make a few weapons from silver, copper and tin. They're not magnetic and we should be able to get it a couple of sturdy-enough weapons put together. Now I'm wondering if I did the right thing with my suggestion."

000-000-000

It had gone smoothly. The guards were incapacitated, falling onto the cold stone floor. He and Belle were able to quickly sneak by them. And the rest was easy (with the Admiral having cleared out the corridors on their behalf). Jones had gone out to ready the ship (which he knew quite well would carry two safely) and Belle had followed, She had put on her heavy cloak and had pinned her hair up in a scant effort at a disguise. But shoes, she had no shoes, just the bedroom slippers she'd had in the tower cell. She found a mirror and glanced at herself. . . and grimaced. Not much of disguise. Anyone who knew her and looked at her a second time, would recognize her. She would have to keep her head down and not call attention to herself.

She was out soon enough, following Jones. He quickly stuffed her into his ship. They had only moments, he thought, before Belle would be missed. There were only a few involved in the "escape" and if he didn't get away, they would not come forth to save his ass. Those in charge of Belle's security would first do a search of the castle. Then they would start looking at ships that had left. Then they would see who in those ships might have had contact with Belle. He was going out under the name "Captain Jacques" but didn't think it would take them long to put it together.

He glanced at the young woman sitting next to him in his small airship. Pretty, petite, brave. He could see why Captain Gold might have liked her. A lot in one little package.

"Where are we going?" she asked him.

"A nearby kingdom that has a relationship with the pirates," he told her. "The town is called Brookeport. Your Captain Gold is held up there. He sometimes uses it as the base of his operations along with some other places. He's rumored to have an island in the Caribbean, one in the Mediterranean, a mountain in the Urals and a place in the Cabinets of Montana and who knows where else he has his little hidey-holes."

Belle had sat silently, reconsidering her rash decision to go off with the charming Captain Jones. Ever since meeting the Dark Man she had made a series of rash decisions, most of which she had lived to regret.

_Was this going to be another one of them? _She looked sideways at Jones. _Could she trust him? What would the Dark Man say when she showed up? Yes, he had come back to see her, but she had no reason to believe she was anything more than a passing whimsy to the man. Would he even remember her? _

_What was she doing? _

"I'm not sure this is a good idea," she said quietly.

"You're afraid he won't give you the time of day?" Jones went to the heart of her concern.

She dropped her eyes and nodded. "I've only met the man twice. Why would I ever think that he would want to take care of me, to give me protection?" She felt tears welling up in her eyes.

Jones reached over and took her hand. "Oh Miss Belle, I can assure you that he will want to give you protection. His behavior with you is quite different from what I've ever seen him do with any other woman. And I've known him a very long time." _And that was true._

"Really?" she looked over at him with wide tear-filled eyes. Terrified. "My whole life changed after I met him. Nothing's the same. I'm a prisoner in my father's house. I have no possibility of a marriage offer. I am somehow tainted. . . and all because of a kiss."

"I think the man cares for you, Miss Belle. I'm counting on it," _and that was also the truth_.

Belle was totally unprepared when, after a lengthy flight and a late evening landing in Brookeport, Jones tied her wrists together behind her back and fastened a scarlet leather collar around her neck. The leather collar marked her as his property. She had tried to run away but he had easily caught up with her. The cad had slapped her once and she had fallen at his feet. She had well and truly been taken prisoner.

Ooo-ooo-ooO

Gold was still recuperating. Emma had become more or less a member of his crew, although she had refused to sign any contract or make any type of commitment. She had stayed to cater to him, making sure he ate, making sure he got up and dressed each morning, got some sunshine. She had begun sleeping on the sofa in his living quarters and despite Jefferson's lascivious remarks and innuendos, she and Gold had never touched each other beyond the arm she would give him to support his weight as he tried to walk around.

"Why don't you get out, go down to the village. Have a drink at the pub. Get out, let people know you're fine and fit."

"Why? I'm not fine and fit," Gold was determined to be stubborn.

Emma was more stubborn. "The rumors are that you've lost your edge. That it's a matter of time before the Ministry will close in on you. Take you down. You need to get out, let people see you. See that you're fine and healthy."

"But I'm not fine and healthy. I've been crippled, Emma. I attached myself to this young woman and I shouldn't have. They can hurt me through her. They have hurt me through her. It would probably be better for her if they were able to wipe out my nanobytes. I've thought about going after her, but I know that she can't possibly want to have anything to do with me. I've ruined her life."

"Well, she isn't the first woman to have her life ruined by a man and she won't be the last," Emma noted bitterly. "She'll either survive to become a stronger person or just wither and pass. She'll have to decide."

As self-absorbed as he was, Gold couldn't help but note the rancorous quality in her statement. "Who hurt you, Emma?" he asked.

She bit her lip and didn't make eye contact with him. "It was a long time ago."

When she didn't say anything, he asked her, "You tell me what happened, and I'll go out this evening," he made a deal with her.

She closed her eyes. _What the hell. _"Nothing much to tell," she said. "Probably what you would expect. I was a first year student at the Academy and allowed myself to be seduced by a smart-talking, slick older graduate student." She stopped talking for a moment. "I ended up pregnant. Lost my position at the Academy and had to give up the baby. Couldn't get a job. Couldn't get a break. Drifted around for a couple of years. Out of desperation, I signed on with Jones. Worked my way up on his ship. And here I am today."

"The baby's father?"

"He was supposed to connect with me, we were talking marriage, but he never showed. I don't know if he changed his mind and decided to wash his hands of me or if he really just got a better offer somewhere else," she shook her head. "I didn't have the resources to find out what had happened and I couldn't afford to stick around. I never found out what happened."

"Never tried to find him?"

"No. And I have no interest in finding him now, so don't you get any ideas."

"And the baby?"

"A boy. I gave him up for adoption. I knew I could never take care of a baby. I was struggling to take care of myself."

Gold had heard such stories before. He had thought Emma was smarter than to have gotten taken in by a fast talker, but even she had been young and innocent once.

With reluctance and a fair amount of whining, he prepared to fulfill his side of the deal and dressed himself to go out. He had thought of going by himself but Emma insisted she accompany him. She also passed on to Jefferson that Gold had decided to go to the Rabbit Hole Pub.

In deference to the lie they had concocted about their relationship, Emma had decided to dress up. Gold was impressed. He had never seen her in a dress, although the traveling skirt he'd bought for her had come close. She'd picked out a slinky gold number that hung off her shoulders. Showed off her assets. Damn nice assets she had, too. He had to smile. It suited her and flattered him.

"They're going to think that you're my doxy," he told her.

She smiled at him. "Isn't that the impression we're trying to give. I can live with that."

"Wait a minute," he told her and went into one of his chests of booty that he had sitting around. He dug through it and pulled out a set of gold earrings set with emeralds and, after a few more minutes, found the matching pin. "These will match your dress and your eyes." Gold helped her with the pin of the broach. She shifted and he stuck himself with the pin. She watched as blood seeped out of his finger.

"Ouch."

"That hurts you?" she asked.

"Sometimes, gold, even silver gets to me. The nanobytes seem stumped a bit by such things. I'll heal up but it takes a while, it's not instantaneous at all." He stepped back to look at her. "You look good."

"Oh, I don't know. What will people think?"

"What they will be thinking anyway. Except that I'm not only your lover, but I'm your generous lover."

Emma took the jewelry reluctantly. "I can't keep this. I'll take them on loan."

Gold was accepting with this. He was beginning to look at Emma a bit differently. She was beautiful, competent and, he thought, she liked him well enough. _If he couldn't have Belle (and he couldn't have Belle). . . well maybe there was another he could have. _

000ooo000ooo000

Belle had never been so humiliated, had never imagined she could be so humiliated.

Jones had been the one to cinch her into a corset and had, as he had done on several other occasions, briefly pawed her. He had not done more than this and had never made even an attempt at a kiss. He had insisted she wear what might have been a fancy ball gown but for a couple of serious flaws. The gown was a garish bright red color and cut far too low in the bosom.

It looked like something a whore would wear.

Her red leather collar, signifying her captivity was visible. Jones had insisted she wear her hair up so that the collar would be there for all to see.

Jones had then stood over her, also insisting she put dark powder around her eyes and red rouge on her cheeks and lips.

She looked like a whore.

Jones literally kept her on a leash and close to him. He would sometimes let her go so that she could clean up after him, his clothes, his meals, as long as she stayed within sight. She had been chained at night to the leg of his bed and made to sleep on the floor. During meal times, he would have her stand behind him to pour him fresh drink.

It was her third night of waiting on him. He would periodically paw her in front of the crew and the other guests at the pub.

But he still had not touched her otherwise.

_It wasn't that Jones respected the girl nor was he afraid that Gold would take revenge on him for having her. Jones just felt convinced that she was a seething infestation of Gold's nanobytes and he did not want to risk contracting any of the damn things which would surely happen if body fluids came to be exchanged. _

They were in the pub again. At his usual table. Belle stood behind Jones, waiting his pleasure, standing in the horrid dress, with the leather collar, and made up like a trollop.

It was not so late in the evening when Belle _felt_ him come in. Just like aboard _The French__ Queen._ She could _feel _his presence. It was like everyone, everything else in the crowded public room became quiet and still.

As before, she started with his polished black boots, staring at them, then his black pants, the flared black leather coat, the vest, the shirt, the gloves, the scarf.

Now, she was looking him in the eyes. He had stopped moving. He was looking right at her.

_What the hell?_ Gold thought. _What is she doing here? And with that low-life, son of a bitch Jones?_

This time, unlike in their first meeting, when Belle had maintained her gaze with a steady stare, this time, she dropped her eyes. He could tell she was blushing and quickly took in her state.

Jones had dressed her like a cheap whore. He was treating her like a cheap whore! _Hell, for all he knew he was bedding her like a cheap whore!_

Belle prayed for the ground to open up and swallow her. _He had seen her. Had seen the position Jones had put her in. He couldn't want her anymore. She had not yet shed any tears although she had come close. But she now felt them start to run down her cheeks, hot and free-flowing. _

Gold hadn't moved. Emma had caught his gaze and had quickly put together who the young woman was. She leaned in and whispered. "Is that _her?_" she asked him.

He nodded just slightly.

Belle had forced herself to glance up. She couldn't help but notice the breath-taking blonde, dressed in gold, hanging on his arm._ She couldn't compete with that._

_She hadn't thought that she could possible feel worse, feel more dejected, more hopeless._

_But she had been wrong._

It was only a moment and _he_ was there, standing in front of Jones.

"Mind if I join you, Captain," his voice, as always, soft and persuasive, and without waiting for a response, Gold pulled up a chair. The pretty blonde remained standing behind him. _But she wasn't wearing a collar and certainly wasn't kept on a leash._

"Well, Captain Gold. I'd heard you were under the weather after that little seizure you had in front of me," Jones commented.

"I'm all better now," Gold assured him and signaled for a supper plate and a beer.

_Belle heard this. Had Gold been ill?_

"I see you decided to stay with him," Jones addressed Emma. "I guess you liked what he had to offer better than anything I had?"

"Certainly. He treats me with respect," Emma answered him quietly.

"I'm sure he's respecting you until you're screaming his name, several times a night." Jones turned to Gold. "Tell me, I always figured she would claw and bite when she came."

"Well, I guess, you'll never know," Gold wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of knowing one way or another. "But tell me. I couldn't help but notice your new floozy. Where'd you acquire her?"

Jones was surprised as the casualness of the question. "You don't recognize her?"

"Should I?" Gold looked slightly puzzled.

"I think you ran into her aboard her father's ship. Rumor is that you traded a kiss with her for her mother's necklace."

Gold shrugged. "Really?" He scrutinized the girl, standing still and silently crying behind the younger captain. Gold shook his head as if he didn't have any recall of the incident. His meal had arrived. _They were always very quick to serve the Dark Man._

Jones leaned forward and quietly shared, "I'm holding her for her father. She's a genuine princess. I hope to get a tidy ransom for her."

"You're wasting your time. The royals don't pay ransom. They never have," Gold advised him.

"Well pity that," Jones said. "I'll guess I'll have to find some other way for her to pay her way with me. I think she's untried, but she seems bright enough, she can learn."

"Let me see her," Gold asked Jones, as if only just now becoming really interested in the girl. And without waiting for a reply, he gave her a quick gesture, motioning for Belle to come around the table. "Come here, girl," he ordered her.

Fearful, Belle glanced at Jones, who nodded.

Belle slowly walked around the table and stood in front of Gold. "Pretty thing, "she heard him say. _She knew he was looking her up and down. _"Although I'm not sure I like the red on her. I think I might have kept her in something more simple, maybe something blue." He continued looking her over. "Kneel here, girl," he ordered her. He pointed to the space on the floor next to his chair.

Belle dropped to her knees, keeping her head down. She couldn't bear to look at the man. She felt his hand on her chin, lifting her face to his.

She couldn't look at him, but she could hear him murmur, "Yes, very pretty."

**Many thanks to my wonderful reviewers (who even with the business of the season found the time to drop me a line): Leafena, The Prince's Phoenix, DruidKitty, scifigeek10, ****Grace5231973****, the doctorsgirl42, Hermitess, and ****thenopetrain (Guest)**

**To reviewer (Guest): Gold _is_ able to call back the nanobytes—as he did with Emma earlier.**

**To Guest: I'm so out of the loop here. AO3 stuff is so foreign to me. I will look into it – thx. **

**To Shadock (Guest): welcome aboard, hope you're still enjoying this. **

**And a special note to: Ying-Fa-dono (who has been with me from the beginning and remembered an error that I had made – I had also caught the error and had fixed it earlier – but for all those readers who have been with me since the beginning "Whale" was changed to "Steiner" in the earliest chapters.)**

_OK folks, I hope people aren't going to be bored, offended or otherwise turned off by a little Rumbelle smut – I rated this story M on purpose. It's coming up – it gets touched on in the next chapter but then things all come together (as it were) in the following chapter_.

_NEXT: Belle is purchased._

_Things start to heat up._

_Things are interrupted._


	8. Bought

_Desperate Belle has gone out of the frying pan into the fire. Escaping from the Ministry's 'treatment' and their dubious protective custody, she now finds herself the prisoner of the handsome, but unscrupulous Captain Jones, aka Captain Hook._

_Gold, recovering from the repercussions of the Belle's treatment under the watchful eye of Emma Swan, has agreed to go out for the evening and has encountered the beauteous Belle, enslaved, demeaned and despairing, under the control of his enemy. Captain Jones._

_Gold has shown a cautious interest in the girl._

**FALLING**

**CHAPTER 8**

**Bought**

Belle slowly walked around the table and stood in front of Gold. "Kneel here, girl," he ordered her. He pointed to the space on the floor next to his chair.

Belle dropped to her knees, keeping her head down. She couldn't bear to look at the man. She felt his hand on her chin, lifting her face to his.

She somehow managed to keep her face without expression as he forced her to look at him. She couldn't read his face. _What was he thinking?_

He didn't say anything for a moment, then used one finger to trace around the low cut neckline of her dress. He then asked, "How much ransom were you asking?"

"500," Jones answered.

Gold considered, "Would you take 250? A sure thing. I can promise you her family won't pay."

Jones shook his head, "I'd like the entire 500."

"Well, you won't get that much from her family and you'll certainly never get that much from her working on her back," Gold told him. "She'd be dead before you got 100. Girls only last, at best, three years in the cribs. I might go as high as 300."

He'd released her and she sat hanging her head.

"Why would you want her?" Jones asked him,_ as if he didn't know._

"The Ministry is trying their best to take me down. A genuine royal princess just might be a small bargaining chip to have if I get into trouble. And. . . she's pretty enough. If I get tired of her, I would think that Jefferson might go for her."

Jones paused, "400?"

Gold sat back. Belle could feel his eyes on her as if he was assessing her. "350," he made a counter-offer.

Jones hesitated. "She's untried," he told Gold. "Make it 375."

Gold tilted Belle head up. "Is that true, girl?"

Belle squinted as the bright light of the pub hit her eyes. She wasn't sure what Gold was asking and her confusion showed in her eyes.

"Are you a virgin?" he rephrased.

Belle tried to drop her head, but he held it in place. She closed her eyes and whispered, "yes."

"I didn't hear that," he told her.

"Yes," she answered more loudly.

Gold dropped her chin. He considered. "All right. 375 it is. Do you want cash or would jewelry satisfy?"

"Cash only please. Some of your jewelry is well known and can get in man in trouble if he flashes it around."

"Emma," he called out and she was instantly by his side. She leaned down to him, revealing a tantalizing bit of cleavage, and he directed her, "Go back to my home and get the man the money, will you, love? And get me one of the gold sashes that you'll find in my bedroom bureau."

Emma nodded and left the men and the kneeling girl.

Belle realized that she had just been sold to Gold. She wasn't sure if she was happy, sad, terrified or . . . thrilled.

_What would he do with her? What would he have her do?_

Gold then began to address his attentions to his meal and sat with Jones while he also ate his supper. From time to time, he would hand Belle a morsel to eat from his fingers. He tersely forbade her to use her fingers to feed herself. He would, instead, have her lick his fingers clean each time, enjoying the sensation of her lips and tongue on him, imagining what those same tender ministrations would feel like on other parts of his body. From time to time he would run his hands through her hair, pulling it down, so that it went around her neck. His sharp eyes had noticed that she was not wearing shoes. He couldn't help but speculate if Jones had taken her undergarments also.

For Belle, the world had shrunk to a narrow range of stimuli. Kneeling as she was, at the man's feet, the light was so dim that she was confined to her other senses.

There were the tastes, the salty taste of the burnt meat he was feeding her, the faintly spicy taste of the man himself.

And then there were the smells, the distinctive smell of leather, the suffocating smells of smoke and liquor, a pleasant musky smell that she realized was the Dark Man himself.

He would touch her from time to time, running his fingers through her hair, trailing his fingers down her ears, touching her shoulders.

She could hear pieces of the conversation. Some small part of it was about her, but mostly they talked about shipping lines, someone named Regina _who Belle thought must be Mary's step-mother_, the Ministry bearing down on them and many other things that Belle did not follow.

He was warm and exuded strength as he had in their first two encounters. She took comfort just from his nearness. She realized that she had stopped crying. She almost felt hopeful.

She was still kneeling next to the man when the pretty blonde woman returned. What had he called her? _Emma._ What was she to him? Belle imagined that, as beautiful as this woman was, she must be his mistress. Her eyes had caught the emeralds the woman was sporting. No doubt stolen from some duchess on one of his raiding missions. The woman remained standing by him while the money exchanged hands, going from Emma to Gold.

He was _buying_ her. Gold was actually buying her. She could not repress a shudder.

She knew that what he had told Jones was true. Her father would never pay a ransom for her. It was the way of the royal houses to never pay ransom. They never had. They never would. But she had no idea why Gold was doing this. _Just to have her? 375 thousand was an enormous amount of money._ He coughed, covering his mouth with his hand, and then counted the cash out to Jones.

"I believe it's all there," he said, handing it over, watching as Jones picked it up and pocketed the wad of cash.

Jones handed him Belle's leash.

Gold then removed the scarlet leather collar that Jones had put on her and replaced it with the golden sash Emma had brought him along with the money. Belle had to kneel up so that he could get to her throat and she was aware of a slight smile on his face as he marked her as his property, his hands lightly tracing down her arms after he had finished affixing the collar onto her.

Although she knew well the deal had been concluded, she quickly realized that Gold did not seem to be in any hurry to get her away from this place. It was sometime later, after several pints of beer that Gold made his apologizes and gestured for the two women to follow him.

Belle had cramped up from kneeling for so long. He didn't allow her any time to stretch out, pulling her along by the leash that Jones had handed over to him. She stumbled and once fell. Exasperated, he'd had to wait while she righted herself. He then pulled her along again. She kept tripping and faltering, her bare feet getting cut on rocks and abraised by the hard road he had her walk and run along. He seemed impatient with her clumsiness. Emma paid her no attention, trailing behind the two.

The three walked only a short distance until they reached Gold's quadricycle. He placed himself on the machine, pulled Belle brusquely to sit in front of him and then Emma climbed in to sit beside him. They rode in the late evening for a few miles, going into a posh residential neighborhood. He stopped at one of the large houses, pulling through the gate at the front yard and stopping the vehicle. Gold pushed Belle off the cycle and then shoved her unceremoniously through the front door. She nearly fell onto the carpet in the foyer of the house, but somehow managed to keep her balance, afraid of making him angry if she fell yet again.

Behind them in the entryway of the house, Emma removed the emerald earrings and broach and handed them back to Gold.

"I know you're angry, but don't beat the poor thing; it's not her fault," Emma cautioned him, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. "I'll leave you two and go and bunk in the gondola." She left the two alone.

Belle stood still. She didn't know what to do, what to say, what was expected of her, what he would want her to do. Now, left alone with the man, she felt terrified.

She knew he was walking around her, examining her, her horrible dress, her mussed hair, her still tear-stained face, even her bare feet. He didn't seem happy.

"How the hell did you end up with Jones?" he asked her abruptly.

"He came to visit me in my. . .uh. . . room."

Gold squinted his eyes, puzzled, angry, "Like I came to visit you?"

"Oh no. I was chaperoned. He just wanted to tell me that you seemed to be missing me. And that you were here."

"So why would you come here?"

"Because I had nowhere else to go," she said in small voice.

Gold began to piece things together. "Ah hell! You were being held prisoner, weren't you?"

"They didn't call it that. I was in protective custody. They thought that you had put some of the nanobytes into me and that you would know everything that I knew and, maybe could even control me. And they tried to get rid of them and it was horrible and painful and it didn't work. They told me that they hadn't gotten them all and the nanobytes were coming back and I couldn't be trusted and had to be protected in case you came back to get me," the story poured out.

Gold pulled her into his arms, seeming to soften for the first time. "I understand. They thought you were contagious. My impulsive gesture ruined your life. I took everything away from you."

Belle didn't respond.

"And you still wanted to see me?" he asked. "Is that why you went with Jones?"

"I had nowhere else to go. No one else to turn to. I couldn't stop thinking about you. Are you controlling me?" she asked,the last piece finally spilling out. She was looking up at him.

"No," he told her. "But I can't stop thinking about you either. That's why I came back that second time. That's why I bought you from Jones." Gold stopped to speculate. "But how did Jones get in to see you? Weren't they restricting your visitors?"

"He told me he was an old friend of my father's. He had clearance from the Ministry."

"Maybe he has better forged paperwork than I would give him credit for. He must have somehow figured out about you. . . maybe when I was sick with the nanocide medication you were getting. . . maybe I said something. The question is did he act on his own or is someone helping him? And if someone is helping him. . . who? Regina? This seems too complicated for her. Someone in the Ministry? Why would they want to get you and me connected?"

Belle stood quietly for a while, while he tried to sort out the loose ends.

"What are you going to do with me?" she finally asked in a quiet voice.

He turned back to her, focusing his full attention onto her. "I know what I want to do with you," he told her. "I want to lay you across my bed and finish what I tried to start back in your bedroom. I want to strip you out of this horrible dress. I want to kiss you all over. I want to bury myself inside of you and have you screaming out my name."

Belle stood for a moment. She shivered. Finally in a small voice she said, "I don't know your name." She was in way over her head with this sensual, experienced man.

"Rumach Pulfrich Stillwell Skinner," he laughed. "I was the last male for several old families. My friends called me Rum. As did my enemies for that matter. My close friends used to call me Rumpul. I don't have any close friends any more," he said more or less to himself. "Right now, I'm known as Gold."

She had to smile. "Really? That's a lot of names."

"Really," he nodded in agreement. "Now princess. What really am I to do with you?"

000-ooo-000

Jones was ecstatic. This was working out exactly according to their plan. Belle had agreed to come with him. And then with Gold, he had posed as considering offering her for ransom and Gold had bitten, buying her off of him. With what the Ministry had already given him, Jones had made a tidy profit off the girl. He had gone ahead and signaled the Ministry that the exchange had taken place. He knew that soon enough they would arrive in full force. Jones knew vaguely what the Ministry had done to Belle and knew that they would be able to track her somehow and, therefore Gold, with whatever they had put inside of her (_He didn't understand how that worked. He didn't want to)_. It was only a matter of time before Gold would be captured and no longer a threat to Jones. Brought low. Finally.

_His hand was itching._

Ooo-ooo-ooO

Belle was trembling with anticipation. But Gold hadn't tried to bed her or even kiss her. He had just sent her up to one of the many bedrooms in the house. He had handed her a pair of his pants and one of his shirts, so she was able to change out of the gaudy, tawdry red dress that Jones had forced her into. But she first took off the hateful gold collar that marked her as property. She had only an incomplete set of undergarments, a single chemise, so she would have to make do with it. She wasn't able to get herself out of the corset and didn't want to ask him for help.

The clothes he had given her were too big. He had muttered something to himself that he needed to get some female clothes in the house, that this was twice that he had to lend his own clothing to some half-naked woman.

Belle had had to roll up the pants legs and then, not finding anything like a belt or even rope, she tore out part of the ruching from the red dress and made a belt with it to hold up the pants. The shirt was big and hung nearly down to her knees and she still had to roll up the sleeves. But it did fit across her chest what with the support the corset was giving her breasts. There was a mirror in the room. She looked at herself. She blushed. The shirt clung to her body and her undergarment were not concealing enough to disguise the lines of her bosom. Her breasts seemed to be trying to peak out from the top of the shirt. She quickly fastened the top button of the shirt but there was no disguising the fullness of her chest. She had pulled her hair out and down, combed it through with her fingers and twisted it back up on to the top of her head. She still did not have any shoes. She didn't know if this outfit was actually any better than the red dress. She ventured out of the room he had put her in.

The main living area was a mess. He had so much stuff all over the place. He was sitting in a wooden armed swivel chair at a large worktable, the small area lit with gas lamps, while the rest of the room remained in shadow. He appeared to be working on some project. He looked so different at his work table, actually wearing little glasses to help him see the close work. His coat and vest were off and his shirt collar had been opened. He looked much more relaxed in this setting. He reminded more her of a college professor or some other sort of academician than a pirate.

He did a double take. "You look beautiful," he told her. "Come over here," he ordered, removing his glasses.

She felt nervous. She felt that she was dressed like some elderly _Chinois_ woman, most out of fashion. It was odd, but if nothing else, she felt that her bare feet put her at significant disadvantage with the man. He was sitting quietly examining her in the soft light. She knew he was inspecting the lines of her bosom as her breasts pushed out against the shirt.

He reached over and unfastened the top button of the shirt, the back of his fingers brushing against her breast. She wasn't sure if that had been an accident. He continued to look her over for a while and then, as if he had made up his mind, he began to slowly unfasten the shirt she was wearing. He slipped it off her shoulders and pulled it off her arms. Her chemise top and the waist cinching corset were all she wore under it. The corset was leather, solid and obdurate. The chemise top under it was made of a fine cotton, meant to be sheer and clingy. It was. She knew that there was very little hidden from his gaze.

She closed her eyes and bit her lip as she felt his hands begin to caress her breasts. He squeezed gently, the flesh yielding to him and spilling between his fingers. His touch didn't make her want to wash herself with scalding water as Jones's pawings had made her feel. Her nipples had hardened almost immediately. He sat back a moment and she felt him tugging and pulling the chemise off of her and with it what little protection she had from the man.

He pulled her close to him, to stand between his legs as he still sat, with the chair now swiveled around so that his back was to the project desk. He lifted one of her breasts and touched the nipple with his tongue. She couldn't stop herself from gasping. His mouth fastened on her and began suckling on one of her nipples, tugging it out while his hand teased, caressed and pinched the other one. This time she gave out a slight, low moan. It was but a moment before he had easily gotten both nipples to turn plum red and swell to nearly the sizes of grapes. He spent time teasing each one and seemed pleased with her response.

"These are exquisite, beautiful," he whispered to her. "Turn around."

She complied and in a moment, after a bit of tugging, the corset came loose. She was now wearing only his pants.

Next she was in his lap. Still caressing her breasts he began to kiss her neck and cheek.

"I had thought that tomorrow I would take you out to buy you clothes," he began, "but now I'm not so sure. I kinda like you like this. I may take the rest of your clothes away from you."

She was startled at the comment. _Was he serious? _

"Where's your collar?" he asked as he continued to nuzzle, knead, trace and touch her all over.

"I took it off," she confessed. She was getting dizzy.

"You'll need to put it back on," he told her. She looked at him, her big blue eyes showing her sense of betrayal. "It's for your protection, my dear. No one will try to touch you if they know you belong to me. And," he paused a moment. "you do belong to me right now." He kissed her again, this time, forcing her mouth open and she could feel his teeth against her lips and then could feel his tongue running along the inside of her mouth. When he pulled back from her, he added, "And I rather like knowing I have a royal princess as my newest pet."

He felt her stiffen but she didn't try to defy him or pull away. He turned her head to look at him. "What's the difference Princess, between being my concubine and having your father sell you off to the highest bidder to be a brood mare for the next generation of royal brats? At least with me, you know you're with a man who genuinely wants you for yourself. A man who finds you beautiful, desirable and who will make every effort to show you a very good time."

"And when you're finished with me?"

He narrowed his eyes at her. _Ah yes, that would be bothering her._ "I don't think you'll want for anything. I am prepared to be very generous. You'll have everything you would have had as a royal princess and more. You'll have your freedom to do as you will, live as you will."

It hurt, but what he was telling her was true and she knew it. As a royal princess she had but one destiny. She could be fortunate and be married to someone she adored or, and it was just as likely, she could be thrust into a nightmare. With the Dark Man, if he kept his word to her, she would walk out of the relationship as a fallen woman, but a wealthy one who could control her own destiny, who could decide her own fate. _Would he keep his word?_

"Maybe it doesn't have to end, Belle," he whispered to her, calling her by her name for the first time. "I've not ever felt about anyone as I feel about you. If you feel the same way about me. . . " he began to kiss her again. She knew she was kissing him back.

He had begun to shift her in his lap. His arms went under her and he lifted her up, standing with her still cradled in his arms. He continued to kiss her and began to move her towards the chaos of the living room and the couches there.

But then he stopped abruptly. Belle's head had tipped back, and she was weak and languorous from his kisses so she did not protest. He suddenly set her on her feet and she struggled to keep her balance, holding onto his shirt for assistance.

He stood still a moment longer as if listening to something she couldn't hear. "Damnation! Get your shirt! Go back upstairs and get your collar! We are leaving immediately! Meet me out front. We are going to _The __Dark Wind_!"

She was confused. "What?!"

"Shirt. Collar. Out. Front. NOW!" he ordered her, "or I will take you with me as you are."

That got her attention and she scurried back to pick up her shirt (his shirt?) and ran back up the stairs to get the horrible collar. She managed to get the shirt on and part way buttoned up but ran back down the stairs without putting the collar on herself. It was clutched in her hand. He had already gone out the front door and had brought the De Dion around.

"Get on," he ordered and she dutifully climbed up next to him. They went at a breakneck speed down several streets. It was very late evening, perhaps even very early in the morning, and there were few that were out and about. They didn't encounter anyone else on a vehicle on their way to the ship.

He rode the quadricycle up onto the ship. There were several members of his crew already waiting on them.

"Yes Captain?" one of his pretty young female crew members stood at the ready.

"Is Jefferson aboard?" he asked.

"Not yet, sir."

"We'll wait for him for fifteen more minutes and then we lift off with or without him," he told her.

"But sir?"

"With or without him," he reiterated. "Without anyone who doesn't make it back in."

"Yes, sir."

Belle looked around. The scene was chaotic. People were coming in to the ship in various states of dress, some having obviously just been awakened. But even within the chaos of activity, everyone seemed to be moving purposely. Gold strode immediately to the helm, to the command center. Belle ran after him, sometimes struggling to keep up, conscious of her lack of dress, lack of shoes and what she knew was a most disheveled appearance.

The very pretty blonde, Emma, greeted Gold from the pilot's chair. She stood up when he came in, "Everyone started scurrying about and said that we needed to get the ship ready to go. That you would be here and would want us to lift off."

He slid into the pilot's chair. "I can be in instant contact with my crew, thanks to the nanobytes," he explained tersely. "There are multiple ships closing in on us. I can _feel_ them starting to bear down on us. We have to get out of here."

"They've tracked you down?" Emma asked.

"Obviously," he replied shortly, glancing at Belle _wondering_. "But we have the advantage of speed and a bit of a head start. We should be able to get away. I wonder what Regina was offered to allow them in."

He turned again and looked at Belle who was standing, still barefoot, still dressed in his castoff clothing. Her hair was tousled and her lips swollen from his ravenous kisses. He could see that her nipples were still standing out against the fabric of his shirt, hard and obvious from his earlier attentions. _Damn, but he wanted to take her right then and there, lifting her up onto the command counter or having her up against the wall of the room. _He sighed. He knew he would be distracted by her continued presence in the command room.

"Princess," he called to her and pulled her close. "I am going to send you to my chambers to wait for me. I want to finish what I've started with you. . . twice now. But I need to get us out of this predicament. You, my dear, are a distraction none of us can afford right now. Do you understand?

She nodded, but protested, "But I want to stay with you."

"I cannot protect you if you are here to distract me. I require that you go to my chambers." This was a direct order. Belle heard it as such. He softened his tone, "Please, please will you go along and wait for me?" he asked her. Then he smiled at her, "And put the bloody collar on. That's an order."

She nodded again. He pulled her down and kissed her, a quick, short kiss.

"Emma, will you take the princess to my chambers," he asked her. "And come right back. If Jefferson doesn't make it on board, I will need a first mate."

Belle followed Emma who seemed to know right where Gold's cabin was. _She wanted so badly to know what their relationship was, but was not, was not, going to ask. _

Emma was amazingly, surprisingly kind, "Are you all right?" she asked Belle.

"I guess. He's kind of overwhelming," she admitted, feeling a bit numb.

"Got that right. I woke up nearly naked and thoroughly tied up in the man's presence, so I know," Emma told her without additional explanation. "But in case you're wondering, no, I've never shared his bed. None of the other women on board this ship have been with him either, if that answers your question."

Belle almost smiled. "It does. I just assumed, when I saw you with him earlier, that you were. . . "

"His mistress? Long story. We both wanted to create that impression and it probably worked out in your favor. Jones was willing to let you go to Gold if you were just a bauble he fancied, but I doubt he would have let you go so easily if he knew Gold was so in love with you."

Emma had let Belle into the private bedchamber.

Emma's words reverberated in her mind _so __in love with you._ Gold was in love with her! How was that even possible? They had known each other for what, a couple of hours now? But it was clear they couldn't get each other out of their minds. Was it possible they were in love? _Was this love? Love at first sight? True Love?_

000-ooo-000

"Is he on board?" Gold asked one last time.

"No sir," it was young Ashley. "Shall we wait five more minutes?"

"No, if he's not here, we are leaving anyway. He'll be able to take care of himself. Lift off," he gave the order.

The ship began to shudder. The crew released the docking cables and the ship began to move. They had cleared the dock and were beginning to rise. A tall, lanky figure scrambled across the airfield, running fast and smooth.

"It's Jefferson!" Emma shouted. "Get a ladder down to him." The crew complied and Jefferson was able to grab it and rose, hanging on the rope ladder, along with the ship. He was able to pull himself up and, with help from the crew, was pulled aboard the _Dark Wind._

"Sorry Captain. I got the message mid-girl. Glad I made it." He lay on the floor of the deck, catching his breath. It only took him a moment, "What's up?"

"They're en-massing around us. We have only one chance and that's to go up higher than any of them can manage. We can drift for a while and find a safe harbor elsewhere."

"You know this?"

Gold nodded, "I can feel them. The metal in the ships. There's so much more about us. They must have known that Jones took Belle and may have found out that he sold her off to me here. They assumed she would distract me long enough for them to move in."

"Jones had Belle? Jones sold her to you? She's been distracting you?" Jefferson was surprised. "I guess I was gone longer than I thought." He saw Emma in the first mate's chair, "Get out girl," and motioned for her to get up. "Where is the little princess now?" he asked sitting down, enjoying how Emma had already warmed the seat for him.

"His bed chamber," Emma answered on Gold's behalf.

Jefferson looked at Gold coolly. "Really? She was amenable to that?"

"Oh, he's got her eating out of his hand," Emma told Jefferson. She added, "I think, first opportunity, that he's planning on stripping her clothes off and having his way with her."

"Finally," Jefferson shrugged and sat back.

**Oh gosh, again thanks to those great reviewers: Grace5231973, DruidKitty, The Prince's Phoenix, Leafena, thedoctorsgirl42, Hermitess, Guest, and Ying-Fa-dono.**

**Several of you have brought up the hope of Hook getting taken down – I hadn't really thought of this (subplot arcs – augh!). I did add a couple of subtle venues for this to happen in this chapter but not sure the best direction to go. I'll work on it (any specific suggestions? – I'm not proud – send them on). **

_NEXT: Escape_

_Fulfillment (ok, a couple of times – got a little carried away here, even without going in the direction of Gold and my ice cream fantasies) thx txm_


	9. Happy

_Belle has been acquired by Gold but before he can consummate the relationship, he senses that ships are closing in around them and he prepares to evacuate his people on The Dark Wind. Using his nanobyte connections with his people, he alerts them to get back to the vessel and, with Jefferson just making it in time, they have pulled up and out of port. Belle, he judges, is a major distraction, and she has been exiled to his private quarters for the duration of the scuffle._

**This chapter is pretty much just smut, so skip it or enjoy it, as per your preference.**

**Falling**

**Chapter 9**

**Happy**

Summarily sent to his quarters, Belle was fretting. _Well he could not have made her position more clear to any and everyone, including her. Sent to his room to await his pleasure! His plaything. That's what she was. _

_Well, _she flounced around the man's quarters, _if he thought that she was just going to submit herself. . . _

There was a booming sound and the ship rocked. Belle took a deep breath.

_Oh, who was she kidding? She'd submit. She'd roll over and submit quite willingly. The man made her run hot and boneless. He could just look at her and her knees got weak. And now that he had thoroughly kissed her. . . well, she could only imagine what else he might have in store for her._

Well, waiting was still hard, especially hard. Anticipation. Worry. Imagination.

She started to look around the Dark Man's, no, he went by Gold now, Gold's chambers.

The man was a pig.

This room was almost as cluttered as his house. Belle picked through old dishes with hardened food and glasses filled with clotted liquids.

There were also scattered pieces of ephemera, including papers, maps, documents, permits, forms, pamphlets, brochures, books, napkins, and envelopes. Some clearly forged, some apparently genuine, some important, some trash.

And there were an assortment of trinkets, baubles, jewelry, trifles, knick-knacks, geegaws, ornaments, and fripperies tossed hither and yon.

And clothing. There were pants, shirts, vests, scarfs, gloves, and a variety of male undergarments. _No female cast-offs._

_Too much nervous energy. She had to do something. _Belle began to tidy things up. As she worked she would feel the ship rock from time to time. She could hear booming. Some close. Some far away.

She focused on the task at hand and found a pillowcase to put the soiled clothing into, setting it outside the cabin door. She collected the plates and dishes and set them in a basket also outside of the cabin door. She made a neat stack of the papers and put them onto one corner of the desk. She put the odds and ends into a smaller basket and then sat herself in the middle of his bed to sort through the trinkets. Not all were trivial, some were clearly valuable jewels.

She stopped a moment when she found her sapphire and silver earrings and bracelet. He must have taken them out of the loot he had gotten from the _French Queen. _And then she found the chipped cup he had taken from her bedchamber. She wondered if all the trinkets she had found had some meaning for the man or if some were just junk. Well, she wasn't going to decide.

She suddenly realized that it had grown much colder on the airship. Really colder. And darker. She knew the room was heated with a radiator but she wasn't sure about its operation so she was afraid to touch it. She hadn't felt the ship shudder in a while.

She padded off the bed in her bare feet and replaced the basket of trinkets on the desk. She turned on one of the gas lamps; those she knew how to work. She went back to the bed and wrapped some of the blankets, coverlets, quilts, duvets, and sheets around herself. The bed was piled with pillows, bolsters and cushions. She nestled herself in amongst them.

And went to sleep.

000-000-000

It was past dawn when Gold made it back to his quarters. He had spent the night steering his ship past what had appeared to be was more than twenty airships. He had recognized a variety of navies and quickly determined that this was a multi-country effort. He knew his ship was by far faster than any other ship he was up against. It was just a matter of getting above them all and moving out on the wind.

When they started to fire on his ship, he had handed the helm over to Jefferson and asked Emma to serve as gunner and try to take out any ships that got too close to them. The _Dark Wind_ was equipped with high powered Gauss cannons and had a greater range than any of the vessels around them, thanks to a series of improvements made by himself. Magnetism, this, he understood.

Gold went out and, as he had so many other times, climbed the canopy until he was standing on top of the ship. It was from this vantage that he could deflect any volleys that were aimed at his ship.

As the ship climbed higher and higher it became increasingly cold, frigidly cold. It would have bothered an ordinary man, hell, it would have killed an ordinary man, but he was not an ordinary man. He began to absorb ambient pieces of energies and knew that he was glowing.

_Let it scare the hell out of his enemies. Let them know they were not fighting an ordinary human being. Let their fear make them too scared, too cautious and too timid to come after him again. _

He stood watching as they left the other airships behind. They continued to climb higher. When he was no longer able to see even a dot that represented their failed efforts at bringing him in, he stood on top of his ship for a while longer, relishing the biting wind and fresh, cold air as it blasted around him. Then he remembered that he had a warm-bodied princess waiting for him.

He climbed back down, told Jefferson and Emma to take a break and leave the ship to drift in the high currents.

He went on to his own private chambers. The first thing he noticed was his room looked dramatically different. Someone had cleaned it. _Damn, served him right for leaving her to her own devices for so long. _

But the room did look better. Of course, he would probably never find things again.

_Where the hell was she? She couldn't have run away._

He found her finally, buried under the covers and pillows on his bed. She was fast asleep. He sighed. She had not put the collar back on. He should probably beat her for that; most men in his position would have. She would need to learn that when he gave an order, he expected it to be obeyed. But he had so many more pleasurable things he wanted to do with her. He took off his boots and laid down on the bed, pulling her warm, soft body into his. In her sleep, she snuggled into him. As he would do on very rare occasions, he dozed.

oooooo-oooooo-oooooo

"What's up with you?" Cassidy had asked Nolan who was sitting quietly in a corner of the main dining hall of _The Blue Star_, the Admiral's vessel.

"Something doesn't feel right," he told the junior officer. They had both heard the news of Belle's disappearance and/or escape. The official story was that somehow Gold had gotten in and spirited her away. He and Cassidy had been involved with the ill-fated "rescue" attempt chasing Gold down. And got their collective butts kicked by Gold _who could have done worse to them._

Cassidy looked down at his coffee. "You too, huh? Is it the princess?" he asked.

"Yeah," Nolan tersely agreed.

"Not liking how she was treated?"

Nolan nodded.

"Me neither. It's like she's become a pawn in a bigger game."

"Yeah, it's clear to me that she was allowed to escape and now she's being used to track Gold. Not exactly sure how. Could they have somehow tagged some of his nanobytes so that we can detect them? With what? How? There just doesn't seem to be any real concern about what happens to her. I don't like this. I'm not comfortable with it."

"What are you gonna do?" Cassidy asked him.

"Me? I guess I'm going to hang in with the project and see if I can save her."

The two men sat quietly for a moment before Cassidy asked Nolan, "How do you feel about the Admiral?"

"Well, at first I had complete faith in the woman. I agreed with everything she was telling me. I trusted her."

"And now?"

"I don't know. I don't know."

Cassidy hedged a moment. "Have you ever wondered if anyone else was successful in surviving a massive nanobyte infusion?"

Nolan responded "I actually asked her if anyone else had tried. She told me Zosa's people had tried and all of them had died."

Cassidy waited a moment and then said, quietly, "What if someone besides Zosa had tried it? I mean it's been awhile. It's possible, by now, that someone could have figured out why it worked for Rumach but not Zosa's people."

"They would still show up on Roentgen scanning. I don't know that we would be able to distinguish someone who was one of Gold's people versus someone who represented a singular mutation. What are you getting at?"

"Have you ever seen the Admiral's scan?" Cassidy asked.

"No, but they talk about it like it's something we could see for the asking," Nolan replied.

Cassidy laughed. There was a bitter edge to him. "When I was younger I was a bit more disreputable. I didn't come from wealth or power and had to depend on my wits. I learned that one of the best cons is pretending you have nothing to hide. Not to imply anything, mind you, but what if the Admiral had figured out how to give herself a massive infusion, maybe working with that creepy Doctor Steiner. If she had infected him in turn, then they could easily be working together and no one would ever actually see their real scans."

Nolan considered this. "But what would her game be?"

Cassidy didn't respond, just shrugged.

Nolan considered longer "To get rid of the only other power that could possibly contest with her? That is far-fetched."

"Absolutely," agreed Cassidy. He finished his coffee, "And I can't imagine that's what's going on. It's too fantastic." He gave Nolen a tight smile and left him alone in the Dining Hall.

00-00-00—00—00

Gold had his own bad dream. _He was standing, no, he was propped up, leaned backwards over a railing, then pushed, from a great height, falling, falling, falling, finally landing in something that swallowed him up. _He woke up gasping, as he always did when he had this dream.

Usually this dream would stop him from going back to sleep, would keep him up for a long time. But tonight, he was able to reach for Belle. She melted into him. He went right back to sleep.

It was later, laying on his back, when he felt something tickling him. It went down his nose and onto his mouth and then onto his chin. It stopped. Then it started again. Down his nose, onto his mouth and then onto his chin. It stopped again. This time he let it go down his nose and when it got to his mouth, he blew against it. He heard a soft laugh. Then a pair of full, moist lips were on his. He kept his eyes closed and allowed the kiss to continue.

This was nice. Belle was seducing him. She had been using her hair to tickle him. _Silly virgin. This would not work out well for her. . . ._

_Then again, maybe it would._

Her kiss left his mouth and went to his chin then down his neck stopping at the hollow at the bottom of his neck. He couldn't help but smile. She kept kissing him, going down onto his chest. He felt her unbuttoning his shirt and vest, opening them so that she could continue to press kisses down his chest onto his stomach. She stopped at his pants._ Well, a man would have to make allowances for a virgin, hoping she would pull down his pants would be a bit much to hope for. _

She started back up his body with her kisses. This time when she got back to his mouth, he grasped her shoulders and thoroughly kissed her back, slowly shifting his weight so that he began to roll her back and under himself. He had opened his eyes by this point. She was still in his pants and shirt. He rested on top of her.

She met his eyes with the same steady gaze she had given him at the first meeting.

"I'm going to have you princess, you know this?" he asked her. "There will be no going back. This is forever," he cautioned her. _Truth be told, if she rejected him now, he was concerned that he might resort to force. He was so aroused, so hard, so engorged, it was becoming painful._

She nodded. "Is it all right to tell you that I'm a little scared?" she asked in a small voice.

"Hell, I'm scared too. But I'm going to try not to hurt you," he sighed. "But you are so damned beautiful, so desirable that I'm not sure I will be able to. . . hold back. It may be a bit of a rough ride for you."

Amazingly, she smiled at him. "I've been dreaming about you since that first time we met," she told him and began to touch him on the face and the shoulders, tracing her fingers down his chin.

He nearly laughed. She was so eager. He pulled some of the covers down so that he could look at her. In several swift motions, he removed her pants and shirt. She had been wearing nothing underneath. There was only the gas lamp with its faint glow, but it gave enough light for him to truly look at her. She was perfect, with porcelain skin, round and soft in all the right places.

_He was going to have some real difficulties holding back._

He caught her looking at him, her innocent eyes as large as saucers. She had ineffectually tried to use her hands to cover herself. She had never been seen by a man before. He saw her nervously lick her lips.

He knew it would be easier if she found some pleasure first. _He thought it likely that she would have not only a virgin's fear, but fear of the unknown, having been sheltered from the realities of what transpired between and man and a woman; with any luck the shadow lover dreams he had sent her had dispelled some of that. _ Not wanting to frighten her any more than he already had, he pulled the covers up over them both and, under the cover of the sheets and blankets, removed his own garments, tossing them aside. He then, intently, began to caress her between the legs, all the while continuing to kiss her. She relaxed against his warmth, _remembering the shadow lover. _

_This was so much better. _

Gold was slow and steady, quickly finding her wet for him, quickly finding that he could slip his fingers inside of her folds and, in due course, could directly stimulate her feminine nub to her ever increasing satisfaction. She was bewildered by what he was doing, what he was making her feel, and she initially tried to pull back from him, but he did not allow her any recourse but to accept his attentions. As he could, he proceeded slowly to increase her pleasure. She began to breath shallowly and hold onto him.

He watched her closely and began to tease her, stopping as she approached her peak, allowing her to cool down and then starting again. He was just able to insert a single finger into her hot, tight channel. _Damn, she was snug. _She began to plead with him, calling his name as 'Gold' then as 'Rumpul.' He felt her nails dig into his shoulders and her teeth graze against his chest. "Please, please, please." _Precious girl, she had no idea what she was asking for._

She was close to coming apart for him. He kissed her at the point where her neck and shoulder came together and whispered, "Come for me, Belle, come for me now," and he gently pinched her swollen nub and she couldn't stop herself. She cried out and nearly bucked him off and her whole body clenched and then spasmed against his. As he felt her close around his finger, he almost disgraced himself and it took a supreme effort to hold himself back. His fingers were soaking wet; he pulled them away long enough to situate her on the cushions and, before the delicious throbbing had ceased, he had positioned and then had pushed himself into her.

She hadn't meant to scream, but she wasn't expecting the sharp pain that came with his entry. She felt her body trying to adjust, trying to accommodate, trying to accept his intrusion. _Her shadow lover hadn't hurt her like this. _"Stop, stop, stop," she pleaded with him. "This won't work. I can't. . ." He could feel her small hands pushing ineffectually against him, trying to dislodge him. But there was no force on earth that could have stopped him now. He couldn't stop himself. She was so incredibly tight and hot.

He managed only a moment before he began to move inside of her, holding her hands above her head, grasped in one of his hands, using his body weight to stop her from thrashing and pushing against him. He didn't want to feel this way but he had such a sense of mastery, of ownership, and he found that her futile attempts to push him away seemed to excite him to dominate her all the more.

"You're mine, princess, mine to take, mine to have, mine to fuck," using the crude language to help bind her to him at the most primitive level. He pulled away from her just enough to get his other hand between them and with his fingers her began to press and stimulate her core and then he kissed her harshly, his teeth grinding on her full lips, just shy of cutting her. He felt her spasm around him again, drenching him with her response, further easing the way for him. It was too much for him. He began to drive into her, hard and relentlessly, repeatedly, and he pulled her legs up so that they wrapped around his waist, allowing him to go deeper into her welcoming heat. And quickly, again, she was shivering. He let her hands go and she was clawing at him yet one more time. And now he couldn't hold himself back and he loosened his life energies into her, giving himself to her. He collapsed on top of her feeling more satisfied than he had a very, very long time.

0000—00—0000

"Belle, Belle, are you all right? Please tell me I haven't hurt you too badly." Now that the passion had subsided, Gold felt chagrined by his uncompromising treatment of her.

She managed to open her eyes. She gave him a smile. _He had been rough (and crude) with her, but she had survived and had experienced more pleasure than she had ever thought possible. _"I'm all right. I'm not used to men treating me quite so. . . forcefully."

She was being kind. He knew it. He could see tiny bruises reflecting where his fingers had held her appearing on her wrists and already fading as the nanobytes he had given her repaired the capillary rupturing. He kissed her nose and told her, "I'm going to get something to clean us up."

She nodded and tried to sit up. She winced. "Why is it so cold?" she asked.

"We're so high up. Be careful, the oxygen is thinner and it's easy to get dizzy. We're drifting and will drop down after a couple of days and find some place to recuperate. You needn't worry about it. I've turned up the radiator and I plan to keep you in this bed the entire time."

Belle was a little put out with his high handedness. "But what if I want to get up and explore the ship, meet your crew, see the sights?"

"You'll have to do it naked. I'm taking your clothes. Be grateful, I'm not chaining you to the bed, princess. I really want to be sure you're not getting away from me this time."

"And where would I go from here, Captain? It's not like I can walk home from an airship ride."

"You couldn't go far. But for the next few days, I want to assure myself that the moment I'm ready for you again, you will be accessible."

"We're going to do it again?" she asked. He could only smile in response.

She couldn't yet look at his nakedness, averting her eyes as he moved confidently across the room and back. He carried a warm wet cloth and cleaned first her thighs and her delicate, somewhat abused, lady parts and then wiped himself off. He tossed the cloth over the side of the bed and turned back to look her over more closely. Belle closed her eyes and tried to enjoy his attentions. He ran his fingers through her soft curls, then to her mortification, he leaned in to carefully examine her delicate feminine beauty. She pulled back when he stroked her nether lips, the stimulation too much, too soon.

"You're quite beautiful all over, Princess," and gave her a quick kiss directly on the labia. She was startled and turned away from him. He then lay back down by her and turned her face to his. "Sorry, Princess?"

"Sorry?"

"Sorry you gave yourself to a monster?"

"To you? You're not a monster. And I'm not sorry. You were," she dropped her eyes. "You were wonderful. I never knew, never imagined. . . You were wonderful.

"Rest a bit. I have other things I want to do with you." He kissed her forehead and snuggled down with her again. She dozed against him. He shifted at one point and she murmured a protest and clung to him, as if she didn't want him to leave her.

He stroked her hair. _He didn't want this to end. He wanted to stay here forever._

Ooo-000-ooO

Emma was sitting in the navigator's chair on the helm of _The Dark Wind._ Jefferson had brought her some coffee.

"You seem to be spending a lot of time here," he observed.

"Nowhere else to go," she answered, shrugging and not looking at him.

Jefferson sat down next to her and stretched out. He slowly looked her over. "Damn, Emma, you are one fine looking woman."

"It's not got me very much," she told him shortly.

He sat another moment. "He didn't do you, did he?" When Emma started to protest, he waved her off. "Oh, I've heard what you two spread around, but I know Gold. What I hear happened. . . not his style at all." He rubbed his chin. "I think he's in love with this chit of a girl."

Emma cut her eyes at him. "You too? I told him so, but he said no." Emma added, "By the way, I did go ahead and have some food and drink sent to the cabin. Just had the cook staff knock on the door and leave it there. I checked a while ago and someone had taken it. I assume Gold got it."

"Good move. He'd probably let them starve rather than leave her just yet to get something to eat. He seems willing to risk it all for her. That does sound like love," Jefferson offered.

"Or terminal stupidity," Emma proffered.

Jefferson laughed. "Same thing."

Emma began examining the instrumentation in front of her, "Should we be worried?"

"Maybe, but I don't think so. She's changed him. I only spent a little time with him, but I could already begin to see something." confirmed Jefferson.

"What is it?" Emma asked.

"I think the man's happy. Never saw him happy before."

000-ooo-000

It was late in the evening. He had showered his attentions on her throughout the day and had introduced her to a variety of positions and activities. Belle had alternately rested, snacked and submitted herself to his predations.

She had begun to lose count of things he'd had her do. He'd put her on her back twice, positioning her legs in different manners, hanging off the side of the bed or up over his shoulders. Another time she was placed onto her side and he held her from behind, like they were spoons laid together. And then, one time, he had set her on top of him and she rode him like a stallion while he entertained himself with watching her full breasts bounce, raising his hands to cup them and catch them as she found pleasure for them both.

She was, at the moment sitting up in his bed, with a sheet pulled around her body, as if she was trying to shield herself from his penetrating gaze. She was pouting and looked incredibly desirable with her hair messy and falling over her eyes and her body still flushed from his earlier attentions. He knew her nipples would still be firm and erect as if he had been sucking on them or plucking them out with his fingers _which he had been_. He couldn't stop himself, but reached over and pulled the sheet down so that he could see her perky full breasts.

She reflexively pulled the cover back up over herself. He had long since turned on the radiator, so the room was toasty warm.

He laughed and pulled the sheet totally off of her, leaving her, as he had earlier, with only her hands to ineffectually cover herself.

"Please, are you ever going to let me have clothes again?" she asked him.

"Oh lord no. I can't imagine why I would ever consider such a thing."

"Oh come on," she looked so delicate and pretty. "I really might want to see the rest of your ship, meet your crew."

"What can I say? The ship's a rust bucket and the crew are all hopeless riff-raff unable to do an honest day's work. You're much better off staying in here. . . as you are."

She ran her fingers through her hair. "Now I keep hearing that this is the fastest ship on the planet. Are you telling me that's not true?"

"Oh it's perfectly true. There's just nothing special to see. Now turn around and get on your hands and knees," he directed her.

She complied quickly, having learned that hesitating would simply lead to more demands and often he would then delay her satisfaction as punishment. The first time she had protested his request (it had, she'd thought, been much too soon for further activity), he had begun to torment her, bringing her up and nearly over the brink, but not quite letting her go, keeping her on the edge for more than a half hour. He'd reduced her to crying and begging before he allowed her to get off and when she finally attained release, she had seen stars and nearly blacked out. It had been fantastic, but exhausting . . . and humbling.

She felt that he had all the power in their relationship.

He knelt behind her and slowly entered her. Still new to erotic posturing, she found that it was a difficult position for her to accommodate him. It became even more difficult when he pulled her up against him, his knees on both sides of her own, locking one arm around her waist. He was able to use the other arm to access her breasts and clit easily from this vantage but she could do little to him or for herself except to accept him and his forceful attentions. When she nearly fell forward, he pulled her back and fastened his mouth on her neck. She could feel his teeth grazing her and leaned, as she could, back into him. She finally manage to reach one of her arms up and behind to grasp his head as he took his time, pushing her rapidly over twice. She heard herself scream both times with the intensity of her response. He finished with her, leaving her nearly boneless and when he released her, she fell forward onto the bed. He fell on top of her and they both rested for a while, drifting off into sleep after but a moment.

**A.N.** **OK, probably got a little carried away here, but I wrote this while we were on hiatus and needed to do something for amusement. I've been told that I lean toward kink, so I did tone this down from the original version (no restraints, no blindfolds, no spanking, no shaving, no clamping, no clipping, no chocolate syrup – just basic smut, I hope, for everybody involved). **

**Thank you to my wonderful reviewers (sorry I didn't get back to everyone individually): Leafena, DruidKitty, Reviewer (Guest) (How they are tracking Belle will be revealed soon enough), The Prince's Phoenix, scifigeek10 (you may be on to something – I don't tend to go for too much mis-direction and wasting words), Grace5231973, Hermitess, thedoctorsgirl42 and to the anonymous Guest (who just reviewed Chapter Five). **

_NEXT: The Admiral has a new plan_

_Things fall apart for Belle and Gold (sorry, but what they have now is too good to last)_

_Emma steps up_


	10. Torn Apart

_Gold has led his people to safety escaping the Ministry's sneak attack. Once they are safe, he indulges his basest appetites with the sweet, innocent and compliant Belle who is quickly overwhelmed and finds herself in thrall to the experienced, sensual man._

_Meanwhile, Captain Nolan and Lieutenant Commander Cassidy have begun to suspect the motives of Admiral Gorim (as do we all). _

**Falling**

**Chapter 10**

**Torn Apart**

0000—00—0000

Admiral Gorim was pissed.

_All the effort that had gone into this initiative and he still somehow got wind that they're on their way and beats them out of the harbor in that incredibly fast ship of his. He had risen fast and straight, going above the level any of their ships could manage. They'd gotten a couple of volleys off but he had, apparently, single-handedly deflected them. Then his people had managed to puncture a few of their ships and they had only narrowly avoided casualties. And now, many of the multi-national combatants that had agreed to this attack were not willing to continue with the commitment to bring Gold down. _

_This had been their best shot and they had blown it, just because Gold had somehow figured out they were coming. What did he see that she didn't see? What did he hear? What did he know?_

_Ah, but she knew that they still had a shot. There was no evidence that Gold had figured out what they had done. With any luck he was spending his time besotted with the little princess and would be well and truly distracted when they made their next attempt. This second time they would have to be much quieter, much more subtle. _

_This time they would follow Nolan's plan (for all that she didn't trust him, he had foretold the failure of their mass effort cautioning that Gold would be able to sense their coming and the plan that Nolan had put forth was now their best possibility of taking the man down). _

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Belle became increasingly alert as she noted some light filling the room. Wherever they were, it was early morning. In the far corner of his chambers, Gold had filled a small bath tub with hot water.

"Can you walk, Princess?" he asked.

She wasn't sure, and was actually a bit surprised to find her legs would support her.

"Get in, there's just enough room for two," he directed her.

A bath sounded wonderful. She got in and he followed her, the two of them just fitting into the copper bath. He sat down and pulled her face to face on top of him. He connected with her instantly and she was gently impaled, straddling him on her knees as he leaned her backward to kiss her. They washed each other as they could without him moving in her. Yet she could still feel the connection and, slowly, the sense of fullness without the accustomed thrusting from him began to frustrate her. She began to rock back and forth on him. He held himself still, with some effort, but allowed her to control the situation, finding her own rhythm, finding her best position. She found herself clutching him in short order and collapsed into him. He allowed her to rest but then pushed her back up.

"I'm still in the game, Princess. Finish me."

"Call me Belle and ask me nicely," she told him, _having just reached her own satisfaction she felt braver than she had before with him._

He narrowed his eyes. _She was giving him orders? Well, no harm in giving her what she wanted, _ "Belle, my sweet, please satisfy me."

She smiled at him and again began to ride him, enjoying for the first time a small sense of power over him. some semblance of control. He began to urge her to go faster and she was able to watch him as he closed his eyes and clenched his body, giving it up for her.

He had her finish washing him off before he allowed her to get out, wrapping her in a large towel and sending her back to the bed.

"We need more food," he announced.

"Let me come out with you and get something to eat," she asked him again.

"Not yet. I still have some other things to introduce you to."

"But soon?"

"Maybe soon." _He did not want to share her. He wanted to keep her here forever and make love to her every way he knew and, perhaps even invent a few new ways to have a woman. He had yet to explore only one aspect of her available channels and didn't want to move too quickly into invading other parts of her person. He was afraid he had already overwhelmed her. _"I'll go get us something to eat." He promised and put on pants, a shirt and his boots. "I'll be right back."

He gave her a quick kiss and left her alone to get food.

First going by the kitchen and now on the way back to his quarters, he swung by the helm very quickly, carrying some food and drink. Emma and Jefferson were sitting quietly watching the cloud patterns, helping to keep look out.

"So is your hot little number cooling off any?" Emma asked him, recalling a conversation they'd had many days ago..

Gold smiled at her, "Not really, still simmering. . . or boiling actually. I'm just coming out for some more food and drink."

"It's been more than two days," Jefferson told him. "I would think that by now you would have exhausted your repertoire and could use a break."

Gold looked puzzled.

"You need to give the girl a chance to rest," Emma tried another tack.

"But I'm not through playing with her," Gold protested.

"You need to let her out and about now and again. It's not good to keep her locked up in your room," Emma was trying to be gentle.

"But she's having fun, too," he continued to protest.

"But she does probably needs to rest up some," Jefferson also cautioned him.

"But why?" Gold asked.

"She's new at this," Emma told him. "If you just keep her in your room and do what you've been doing with her, you will wear her out."

Gold nearly pouted. "But I'm not tired of her yet." He readied himself to go back to his quarters. He looked back at Jefferson. "And I haven't finished trying new things with her, _not in just two days_! I could keep going for a couple of weeks with new stuff." He looked over at Emma, "Now where are we?"

Emma had rolled her eyes before responding to his question. "Sir, we're over mountains," she updated him.

"Any sign that we're being followed?"

"Not that we've detected. We're watching closely."

"Let me know if anything appears out of the ordinary. And Emma, I would prefer that if you have anything to tell me, you will knock on my door and wait until I answer it."

Emma had to smile at that. "Of course, sir, understood."

"It could be awhile," he explained.

"Understood, sir," she repeated with a slight smile.

He left them.

Emma and Jefferson looked at each other. "What the hell all is he doing with her?" Jefferson asked.

"And he still has new stuff that he hasn't tried yet? A couple of weeks of untried, new stuff?" Emma asked, fanning herself.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

_Killian Jones was still celebrating. Not his fault that the stupid bitch hadn't able to take down Gold. She should've realized that bringing in that many ships would be a give-away to the man. Sensing metal was child's play to the goblin. You'd think anybody who'd been studying him would know that. Not his fault. _

_But damn. He had been so hoping that the Admiral would have been able to take Gold down. He might have lucked out and gotten back luscious Emma or even that pretty little piece that Gold had taken a shine to._

_Now they would have to make a second attempt. The Admiral had come to him. She needed a ship. A fast ship with a clever crew. He might be around to see Gold taken down yet._

000-ooo-000-ooo-000

Gold had kept Belle in his quarters (without the collar) for four days now. She had sweetly acquiesced to every demand he had made of her, some pretty extreme but she didn't know that, so he felt like guilty shit when he kept turning down her requests to be allowed out. Fortunately for him, she didn't hold a grudge.

This last time he had briefly dozed and awakened to find her sitting on her knees next to him. She had pulled back the bed clothes and was looking at him, looking at his male parts.

She gently, carefully touched him.

_She had gotten braver._

"This looks different now," she told him.

"He's resting. He'll be ready for you again soon," he assured her.

"Can I? . . would it? . . do you mind if I touch it?" she asked him shyly.

_Hell, yeah. _"It would be all right," he managed to reply.

She ran her fingers up and down him and, after only a little hesitation, closed her hand around him. He had a sharp intake of breath and she quickly let him go.

"Did I hurt you?" she was most concerned.

_You should have asked me that when you had your legs wrapped around me while I was banging you against the wall two days ago and we hit that air pocket and nearly fell. _"I'm ok," he answered.

She looked concerned. "It's just that. . . one of the few memories I have of my mother was when I was little and would hurt myself, she would kiss it to make it all better." She turned her big cornflower blue eyes on him. "Are you sure you're not hurt?"

He paused. _Was she about to do what he thought she was about to do?_ "Maybe, just a little hurt," he told her.

He felt her lips on his shaft, on the head. She then stopped and looked up at him. "Does it still hurt?"

"Uhhhh, yeah, still some," he managed to say.

She nodded and he again felt her lips . . . then her tongue on him. Her fingers still traced along his length. She lingered on the head, gently sucking and running her tongue around him. She lifted her head and looked at him.

"There seems to be a little swelling going on," she observed. "Perhaps you were hurt more than you realized."

"May be," he agreed and he closed his eyes when he again felt her mouth wrap around him. With one hand he held onto the sheet and the other hand he put into her hair.

She began experimentally exploring him with her lips and tongue. She would take him into her mouth and would gentle suck on him. Although not as practiced as the courtesans and whores he had frequented, she was getting the job done. She was able to take him nearly entirely down her throat, sliding up and down on him. He began to guide her, helping her pace herself. She'd showed no signs of getting tired, of slacking off or pulling back.

_This was the best time he'd ever had with a woman._

He began to feel a familiar building sensation. "Belle," he cried out hoarsely, "You don't have to finish this. I can take over," he told her. But she wouldn't stop. And he didn't have the will or the strength to stop her. He ended up grasping the sheet, pulling it up and holding her head as he released himself into her mouth. He could hear her make small gagging sounds as she struggled to hold onto him and swallow at the same time. She pulled up, finally, and gave him a shy smile.

"Belle," he managed to gasp out. He pulled her up to him. "I was not expecting. . . I never thought. . . I want you to know. . ."

"It's all right."

"No it's not." He had to rest a moment. _He really did owe her. She'd been too sweet, too cooperative, too. . . everything. _He lay a moment. He had to recover.

Finally, he said, "I've been treating you like a possession, like my personal whore and you've been nothing but compliant and sweet and giving and trusting and good to me." He managed to pull himself up. "Oh hell, I'm going to get you some clothes." He got up and dressed himself and left her alone.

"Amazing," Belle said to herself, lying back on the bed. "That was all it took? If a man only came with an instruction manual." She shook her head.

Gold had feverishly gathered some clothing from little Ashley, one of his helmsmen, for his paramour to wear out around others. Ashley and Belle wore the same size in shoes. But Ashley was taller and had a less voluptuous frame than his Belle, so the clothing was both too big and too small for Belle. Belle managed the skirt with no difficulties, but the top pulled across her bosom causing it to swell out the top of the corset that had come with it.

_Hell, maybe Emma could help with a better fitting top. _ He had gone out again, but then Emma had laughed at him when he had asked if he might borrow one of her blouses for Belle.

"Don't want to show her off too much, huh?" she had teased him.

He shook his head. "I'm surrounded by sass and disrespect. I need to start keel-hauling crew who can't treat me like their captain."

"Hey, I'm giving you something from my very limited wardrobe," she protested, then added, "Sir."

He glared at her. "I think I should have fucked you when I had the chance. That might have made you a bit less impudent."

Emma was still laughing at him as she started out the door to get him the requested items. "Tell me, sir, how is Belle doing? Did you wear her out?"

He sighed, "She's fine. Starting to get her own ideas."

He waited in the helmsroom for Emma to return with the clothing. He checked out their location and had a new idea.

He was thinking about his princess. He wasn't sure that he wanted Belle to start making demands of him. Sure, he had enjoyed what she had done, but then he also very much enjoyed her being compliant and subservient to his desires. He preferred it when she was the one on the bottom. . . and he was on top. . . and in charge. . . and the one making requests. . . and demands. . . and giving orders.

_But it had been nice._

_And he couldn't get enough of her. _

But Belle did seem to want her freedom.

_She seemed unaware that he owned her._

She wanted freedom to move around the ship. Freedom to get out and meet people. Freedom to get off the ship. .

He smiled. Well he was going to let her off the ship. For a while. True, it was for his own amusement, to be sure.

They were near somewhere he had recognized. It was a place that had hot springs. They bubbled up amid the ice fields. Remote, with no human activity for many, many miles. The idea of getting her into the hot foaming water and letting her ride him there was too alluring for him to pass up.

He gave clear directions to Jefferson and Emma. He had definite plans to entertain his little princess in the bubbling waters.

He didn't allow her a tour of the ship nor the opportunity to meet any crew. He had required her to wear the collar. She had protested, but complied. He had then wrapped a heavy cloak, although she was still shivering as they rode a small transport down to the ice field.

"You'll like this, I promise," he told her. It was beginning to snow, but he found the hot spring by the steam and vapor rising off of it. He had done well to remember the location.

He quickly stripped off in the freezing air and slipped down into the steaming water. "Join me," he ordered her. She hesitantly removed her boots and put her feet in the hot water, then quickly took her remaining clothes off and slid in. She came to him and allowed him to hold her in his arms.

They sat in the water and looked out over the vista. A beautiful ice field covered with a layer of snow.

"This is beautiful," she told him, relaxing in his arms.

"I know a hundred such beautiful places. All over the world. There's one with a waterfall that falls into a quiet pool. Another where the trees are so wide you can walk side-by-side on them. And there's a place where the grass is so thick that it's like lying on the softest bed. I want to show you every one of them."

She smiled at him, "I want to see them all. . . with you."

He kissed her very tenderly. This was as close as he had ever felt with anyone. He didn't want to let her go. He didn't want it to end. He continued to kiss her gently.

_Neither one of them heard the men sneaking up; they were so focused on each other. The men carried weapons made of silver and copper and tin, non-magnetic metals. They were on the loving couple before either one had heard anything. _

"Captain Gold, you are under arrest." Gold reacted by first trying to shield Belle's body with his own and his attempt to protect his mistress cost him everything. There were too many and some of the men were able to drag her out of the hot pool and wrap her in a quilted blanket. They held a gun to her head, holding her hostage while Gold was pulled out. Before he could react there were metal rings, large magnets fastened onto his wrists and around his neck.

He realized quickly the magnets contained much of his expandable energies. He was gagged and also wrapped snugly into a quilt. He and Belle were carried off.

000—0000-000

"They've been down there a long time," observed Emma. "Are we sure they're all right?"

"I would think so. I mean he kept her in his room for four days straight and she seemed no worse for the wear."

"Yeah, but this is outdoors, it's snowing and cold and something could have happened. Maybe we should just go down and check on them. We could be discrete."

Jefferson sat a moment with his eyes closed. "It's odd. I don't feel him."

"What do you mean?" Emma asked.

"He's always in my head. It's like background noise. It's quiet, too quiet." He got up. "Let's go check on him."

They found the hot springs. There were still neat piles of clothes by the water, clothes that were now nearly covered with snow. But no Belle or Gold. Emma and Jefferson both drew their weapons and fanned out.

"It looks like a small force came in and got them. I'm finding what were probably footprints but snow has mostly filled them up," Emma shouted over to Jefferson.

The two circled back around to each other. "I found something," Jefferson held up a simple gold necklace, a gold flower petal encasing a simple pearl. "This is Belle's necklace. She took it off herself and let it fall on the ice here to give us a message."

"Like. . . ?"

"She would never give it up without great necessity." Jefferson sighed, "They've been snatched, captured. They must have figured out a way to contain the Captain."

"Where would they have taken them?"

"I don't know. But we've got to find them." Jefferson pronounced. "We've got to. Do you have any ideas?"

Ooo-ooo-ooO

Belle was in a cell. She had been given a simple grey shift to wear and slippers. There was a single window high above her head and a cot. The room was the same grey as her shift. There were no visitors, no news. She was frantic and upset. She was afraid to eat the food, afraid it might be drugged. She sat quietly, waiting, worried, too anxious to cry.

She didn't know how long, hours? days,? she had been left in the cell when the Admiral came in to see her.

"Princess Belle, I'm so sorry they feel it's necessary to take these precautions. This must be awful for you."

"Where is he? What have you done with him?" Belle asked her.

"Oh, you don't need to worry about Captain Gold. He's being taken care of. I doubt you'll ever have to see him again."

Belle couldn't stop herself. She cried out and sat back down.

The Admiral watched her closely. "If I didn't know better, I would think you had feelings for the man. The man who ruined your life."

"I want to see him. I want to know that he's all right," Belle insisted.

"You have been possessed by his nanobytes, my dear. I'm so sorry. We are going to try again to get rid of your nanobytes, Princess. There are going to be two procedures. The first will take out the nanobytes that I had put into you."

"You put nanobytes into me?" Belle was stunned. "When? How?"

"I had Dr. Steiner inject you with some of my blood. I will call them out painlessly."

"Your blood? You have your own nanobytes!" Belle put it together, "You went into the vat. You survived!"

"A long time ago. I studied Zosa's people and realized that none of them had cultivated the nanobytes, so I spend two years coddling the little things. Feeding them, keeping the temperature just right, talking with them, everything that I figured Rumach Skinner had done. And finally, I went in. And I survived. And I came out changed."

"But you aren't as powerful as Gold!" Belle stated it as a fact.

The Admiral stood quietly. "We have different talents."

"You aren't as powerful as he is," repeated Belle. "That is why you want him dead. Without him around to stop you, no one will be strong enough to withstand you."

The Admiral wasn't pleased. She continued with what she was staying, "The second procedure is designed to kill those nanobytes that Gold put into you and will almost certainly be harsher this time. I understand that Dr. Steiner thinks we need to use more nanocide and have the procedure last longer."

"I won't agree to it," Belle said defiantly. "I refuse to go through another one of those horrible treatments again."

The Admiral looked at her awhile. "Unfortunately it won't be your decision. My dear. We'll try to make it comfortable for you."

0000ooo000ooo0000

Emma had been walking around King Maurice's town and castle for a couple of days now. Jefferson had remembered that Belle had a pretty dark-haired friend, another princess, who had tried to intervene when Belle was bartering a kiss for her necklace. He had held a gun to her head and didn't think she'd remember him so favorably, so he had Emma go into the castle to see if they could find out who the pretty friend was.

Given Jefferson's description, remarkably detailed for a brief encounter, but then Emma realized they were talking about a beautiful woman, enabled her to quickly identify the friend as Princess Mary. She was still in the castle.

With a bit more investigation, Emma had discovered the Mary was the step-daughter of Queen Regina. A unusual piece of information. _Regina was certainly no friend to Gold. Was this Mary Margaret somehow involved in the plot to take down Gold? Maybe she was angry at him for screwing over her best friend. _Emma would have to feel her way with this one to get the best sense of whose side Mary Margaret would be on. She still felt safe in going to her to get help for Belle _but maybe not for Gold_.

Emma had been able to get into Mary's rooms. She had found where they were and had easily been able to break into the room. She was sitting quietly waiting for Mary. She didn't have to wait long.

Mary came into the room in the late afternoon. Emma made sure the woman was alone, then stood and greeted her. "Princess Mary. I'm a friend of Princess Belle," she introduced herself and held up Belle's necklace.

"What?!" Mary was startled. She pulled back, wary, not getting close to Emma.

"Princess Belle was kidnapped from this place by Captain Hook who sold her to Captain Gold. I work with Captain Gold."

"Is she all right. Is she ok?" Mary quickly asked how things were going.

"She was," explained Emma. "While she was with Gold. He took great pains to protect her, to take care of her." _Of course he was boinking her brains out._ "But we were somehow tracked into the far reaches of the north and they were both taken."

"Taken?"

"Judging by the footprints and finding Belle's necklace, someone disabled them and took them by force."

"But who?"

"We think the Ministry. They have the manpower, the technology, the mandate to get Gold. Belle, I think, would have been just a pawn in their game."

Mary had listened quietly. She walked over to the window in the room. "I have been observing the Ministry and their actions," she said quietly. "There are several of us that think that they have overstepped their authority, especially in their treatment of the Princess Belle." She turned back to Emma. "What do you want from me? How can I help?

Emma let out a sigh of relief. "Do you have any idea of where they might have taken them? Where could they have taken them?"

"I have no idea. But I know someone who might know, or who could find out," Mary told her. "Come with me."

She led Emma through the castle and out into the town. "We are going to the offices of the Ministry in town here," she told Emma. "There's someone there who can help."

She took Emma down streets with a confidence that came with being a princess royal. Emma noticed how many of the townspeople greeted her, some bowing, some offering her flowers, everyone smiling.

_This woman was quite well-liked. That was a good sign to Emma. She was confident and focused, characteristics Emma strived for in herself. _

But Emma was not confident or focused when Mary took her into the dark Ministry building. Even though this was not the main offices of the Ministry, it was close enough. Emma kept looking around to see if there were any wanted posters for herself, but didn't see anything. She did catch one description of herself as a footnote, along with a picture and description of her former employer, Jones. There were plenty of descriptions of Gold and a drawing which had genuinely captured his likeness. By force of habit she often looked over her shoulder to see if they were being followed.

Princess Mary did not pause, but led her directly back to one of the offices in the building. There were two men in the office. Emma greeted the tall Captain and. . .

Emma immediately pulled a gun on the other man, who promptly pulled a gun on her. The two stood there with their guns aimed dead on at each other.

"I thought you were dead," the man told her. "I went looking for you, but they said you never showed up."

"Liar," she spit at him. "I was there. I waited for you. You never came. You abandoned me, you low-life son of a bitch."

Captain Nolan sat back, looking at Officer Cassidy, then at Mary's companion.

"I take it you two know each other?" he asked.

**A.N. I know people didn't want me to tear them apart right after they had finally gotten together (but hey, otherwise the story would be over, they'd sail off together and live happily ever after) - and it's not like I had Belle lose her memory of Gold or anything truly painful, like that. **

**Thanks to all those awesome reviewers: Hermitess, DruidKitty, Claire (Guest), The Prince's Phoenix,tigger64, Grace5231973, paulawer and new reviewer Estrany and all new followers and favoriters.**

_NEXT: Emma has a plan_

_Gold gets some devastating news_

_A rescue effort is mounted_


	11. Cold, Dark and Damp

_Gold and Belle have been taken prisoners. Emma and Jefferson suspect the Ministry and Emma has gone to Belle's friends for help. After sharing concerns with Mary, Emma is introduced to Captain Nolan and another officer. _

**Falling**

**Chapter Eleven**

**Cold, Damp and Dark**

Emma and Neal Cassidy held guns trained intently on each other.

"I take it you two know each other?" Nolan asked calmly, sitting back casually. _These two seemed pretty high-strung and he didn't want to upset either one of them._

"Someone from my past," Cassidy shared. "Someone who disappeared. Someone. . . " he lowered his gun, opening himself up to Emma as a clean shot. "I looked for. That I thought was gone forever. Emma, what happened to you?" He tried to approach her but she visibly tensed up and he held back. "I had gotten a last minute selection by the captain of _The Eckener _ and had to report immediately for a closed mission. All outside communication was forbidden. I had less than thirty minutes before I had to be on board. I did every thing I could to leave you a message. But it was a year before I got back, I looked and looked, but couldn't find you. It was like you had dropped off the face of the earth."

"I never got any message," she told him, still holding her gun on him, not quite believing him.

"You never got the message! But I left one with your roommate, with the people at the hotel. My friends all knew what had happened!" Cassidy told her.

"My roommate hated you! The hotel said they didn't know anything about you and, you know, I never met any of your friends! We never seemed to get around to that," Emma responded.

Cassidy slumped and hung his head, "Then, you must have thought I had. . ." he finished quietly, "oh shit, abandoned you. No wonder you want to shoot me." He looked back up at her. "I never forgot you. There has never been anyone else since. . . Emma, I'm still in love with you. Is there any hope? Could there be any hope for us?"

Emma hesitated. She didn't want to believe what she was being told. She had suffered too much, too long because of . . .what? Not getting a freaking message!? She lowered her gun. "You're not worth killing," she told Cassidy. "But I don't know about getting back together, Neal. That would be a bit much." She lowered her gun. "And I still don't know I'm ready to trust you again or if I even want to be around you."

Mary hesitated, remembering why they were there but waiting to see if there was to be any additional words (or bullets) between Emma and Cassidy. When things remained quiet for a moment, Mary asked Nolan if he was aware that Gold and Belle had been captured.

Nolan sat for a moment. "No. Cassidy and I were on board with the initial assault. But then the Admiral sent Cassidy and me back here. I had wondered if she didn't have a second assault in mind and she didn't want us to continue on with her. She's beginning to suspect us," Nolan explained. "At my suggestion they had created some silver, tin and copper weapons that his magnetism couldn't control and they were all checked out for the first mission. Those weapons should have been returned by now. Cassidy, can you see if they've been checked in?"

Neal nodded and left the room.

Nolan continued, "We had originally been on her ship but then she asked that Cassidy and I stay back here and do the Command Central routine. I knew we had missed Gold at Brookeport. I kept telling them what they were planning was too heavy handed and he would figure out they were coming. The man can feel iron and would know if they sent in a large force."

"What else did you tell them?" asked Emma.

"I told them the best way to get Gold would be to get him distracted, perhaps with a female, then using a small force with silver weapons, to sneak up on him, and, working very fast, control him by holding the gun on the female, then, I thought, that powerful magnets could quickly be put on his wrists to dampen out his own magnetic fields. Then they could treat him, more or less, like any other dangerous criminal. They would have to watch him spitting or urinating on them as he could contaminate them, but other than those things he should be manageable."

Emma rubbed her head. "My guess, Captain is they followed your plan to the letter. They used Belle to distract him and took them both. I just don't understand how they followed us to begin with."

"I believe that the Princess Belle was infused with some tagged nanobytes that somehow the Admiral was able to follow." He paused a moment then began to explain, "I'm thinking that the Admiral may have gone into the nanobyte vat herself, survived the experience and now has her own nanobytes. I can't prove it, but if that is true, it would explain some of her actions."

"Not to mention how they tracked Belle – the admiral would have been able to _feel_ where she was." It was a new voice and everyone in the room looked up to see who had spoken. It was Dr. Hopper. He'd come into the room followed by Lieutenant Commander Booth.

"I suspect that you and Mr. Cassidy have been having similar conversations to the ones Mr. Booth and I have been having," began Hopper. "This win-at-all-costs attitude is not sitting well with us. Using the princess as a pawn is not working for us either. There are just too many things that aren't right in this," Hopper went on to explain.

"Do you know where either one of them have been taken?" Emma asked.

"Yes, I do." Hopper answered. "Belle is in the Admiral's ship. She is scheduled to undergo another 'Treatment'."

"Oh no!" Princess Mary voiced the alarm they all felt. "She was in so much pain and so sick after that first treatment."

"Treatment? Tell me about this," said Emma.

Princess Mary explained, "They did some type of infusion to try to kill the nanobytes. It made her ill but, as I understand it, some of the nanobytes survived and reproduced making the treatment ineffective. Why would they want to do this again?"

Emma was shaking her head. She had begun to piece together a pattern. "Go back," she directed. "Tell me about how Belle reacted to the treatment."

"It caused discomfort, which became pain and nausea. Dr. Steiner had also given her something to make her sleepy so the poor thing was throwing up while she was half-asleep. I was afraid she'd choke on her own vomit."

"And how long did this last?" Emma asked.

"The treatment went about six hours, the nausea and sleepiness about two more days after that."

"Son of a bitch!" said Emma. Everyone was looking at her. "Gold went through the exact same thing that Belle did! At first he was in great pain, then we couldn't get him awake and then he started vomiting. He went through exactly what Belle was going through. If they treat her again, he'll go through it again."

"We've got to stop them," Nolan pronounced. "I'm not sure I care anything about Gold, but I don't want Belle to be subjected to this treatment again, particularly if it didn't work."

"It might work this time," Hopper shared. "I understand they are going to use more of the nanocide and let the treatment run longer."

Emma rubbed her head, "It could kill her this time, maybe kill them both. Well?" she turned to Hopper. "Can you get us in? How hard will it be to stop this and get her out?"

Hopper looked at Emma, puzzled. "Who are you?"

"I'm with Gold. One of his people. I came here looking for him and Belle when they disappeared from the far north after they had ventured away from the ship. I knew that Mary was one of her friends and contacted her to see if we could find them. She led me here."

Hopper nodded, accepting Emma's story. "Well, Miss Emma, they are on the Admiral's ship. There are quite a few sailors on board. Armed guards and all."

"So then force isn't a good idea. We need to try finesse," proposed Emma.

"Do you have something in mind?" Nolan asked.

Emma smiled, "I need someone to distract the Admiral personally. And I need someone to distract King Maurice. And I need someone that the Admiral and her people don't know, who can be completely over-the-top, arrogant, cavalier and very, very persuasive."

Booth spoke up, "Dr. Hopper and I can distract the Admiral. We can tell her that we have some questions about Nolan and Cassidy's loyalty to the project. She already suspects them so we'd be telling her something she already knows."

Dr. Hopper nodded his agreement.

Nolan spoke up and added, "And Mary and I can distract the King," he looked at Mary. "I believe we have the perfect situation to present to the King, don't we Miss Mary?

Princess Mary blushed and nodded her head. Nolan continued, "It will work. But who else can we get that the Admiral doesn't know who can be over-the-top and persuasive?" Nolan asked.

Emma was still smiling, "I rhink have someone in mind who will be perfect."

Ooo-ooo-ooo-ooO

They kept him in the dark, literally as if somehow light was something that might enhance his abilities. Not only was it dark, but it was wet and cold. The walls were hard stone. There was a glass wall between the bars of his cage and the outside world (to keep him from spitting on or peeing on or jacking off on or otherwise contaminating his guards or his visitors). His eyes had finally adjusted to the minimal, marginal light that was available. His bed consisted of a straw filled mattress, lumpy and only slightly less comfortable than the stone floor it rested on. The bars, he had quickly ascertained, were not metal, but made of strong wood, thick and sturdy.

It had been terminally boring except for two things.

The first was a visit from a woman who lit a light and flooded the cell with a sallow pale yellow. It was Admiral Gorim. Gold recognized her instantly, squinting against the light, now alien and painful to his eyes.

"Reul, my dear," he called out when he saw her. "I had no idea you were in the navy. But it has been so long since I last saw you. What is it now, at least a hundred years? You look good." He wanted, so wanted, so desperately wanted to ask about Belle. But he didn't want to make this easy for her.

"Hello Rumach. You aren't looking so good."

He shrugged. "I'm sure I'll be all right soon enough. I have some little helpers that are fixing me up as we speak." _They were struggling against the magnetic forces that encased his body but he wasn't going to tell her that. _

"Enjoy your 'little helpers' while you can," she said lightly. "I suspect you'll be feeling some discomfort shortly."

He knew now what part of her plan was. "Trying the Treatment again, are you? Belle was on board with that?" he asked, trying not to sound too eager. _Maybe she would let some news slip regarding his little princess._

"She was planning on it from the beginning. Brave girl that," Reul walked up close to his cage. "She knew it wouldn't be very pleasant but felt that . . . well, she felt that if she was to play a hand in capturing you, that it would be worth it."

Gold froze. "Belle was working for you?" he finally managed to ask

"Of course she was, or should I say, she is, working for me. After she realized what a mess you had made of her life, she wanted nothing more than to bring you to justice. We tried to talk her out of it, but she felt the best odds of capturing you would be for her to connect with you and then to let us know where you were. She insisted she was willing to do whatever it took. What were her words now? Oh yes, she was willing to 'whore herself' to you if that was necessary. She did a fantastic job, wouldn't you agree?"

He didn't move.

He digested what Reul had just told him. _Of course, a beautiful, cultured girl like Belle wouldn't actually wanted him, wouldn't have actually wanted anything to do with him! After all, she was a real princess. _

_How could he have ever believed that she cared for him?_

"How is she doing right now?" he asked as if he had not just been shaken to the core.

Reul pulled out her new treasured Lady Waltham pocket watch. "Well, in about thirty minutes, Dr. Steiner should be having her back on the treatment table. I understand from Captain Jones that you had a reaction to her last treatment. I'll be checking in with you shortly to see how you're doing. If there's a chance to see you writhing in pain, well you understand that I will just have to see that." She smiled and left him, taking the light with her.

Alone.

In the Dark.

He had been left.

_So alone. _

_Really alone._

_So Belle hadn't wanted him, hadn't loved him. And he had dared to hope that there might be someone for him. _

_What a fool he had been! _

He felt his legs give out from under him, and he couldn't breath. He fell, slumping against the wall of the cell. He didn't have the strength or will to remain standing. He leaned up against the cool stone wall, gasping, trying to deal with the sharp pain in his chest. He felt that his face was wet.

He finally flopped over, lying curled in a ball on a corner of his lumpy, hard mattress. If Belle was going to be subjected to The Treatment again, he knew he would need to be lying down when it hit. He had given her so many of his nanobytes, more than he had ever passed on to anyone, way more. He would feel whatever she felt. They were connected.

As he lay down he called forth his slim memories of how Belle's first treatment had impacted on him. He recalled that, even with Emma's help, he hadn't been able to walk, crawl or creep when the racking pains had first hit.

And soon enough, ripples, waves and, finally, the tsunami of Belle's Treatment was the second thing to disturb the cold, damp darkness.

00000-oo-00000

The Admiral had Doctor Hopper and Lieutenant Commander Booth waiting to see her on an urgent matter when she returned to her office.

Something about some concerns to do with Captain Nolen and Lieutenant Commander Cassidy.

She would see them. Rumach wasn't going anywhere. The treatment was going to take several hours, more like six or eight. She had plenty of time. She would listen to the Doctor and the Lieutenant Commander for however long it took. They would likely be just confirming what she was suspecting.

With any luck Rumach would be wallowing in his own puke when she got back to him.

000—0000000—000

"Sire, we truly appreciate your time with this problem," Nolan spoke respectfully. "I think that you can understand why we can't approach our own parents on this issue." _He and Princess Mary had approached King Maurice as soon as Cassidy had returned from the armory_ _with the news that the non-magnetic guns were just now getting returned; the guns had clearly been used for a second mission._

King Maurice had been duly flattered when the Marquees and Princess had approached him for advice. "Captain. Nolan, I just hope I can help."

"We very much want to get married. But we are pretty sure that my step-mother nor his father will approve of the match. We will need your protection, at least for awhile," Mary told him.

"Why would they not approve?" King Maurice was puzzled. "You two are an excellent match. An archduke's heir and a princess, excellent pairing." King Maurice went on to list his own reasons why they would make a good match. Nolan and Mary listened, agreeing with the man and (apparently) marveling at his insights and perceptions. They often would look at each other as if they were quietly assuring themselves that they had done the right thing going to the King for advice and protection.

King Maurice was more than happy to offer them his protection and to offer his advice and assistance for their marriage. He talked with them for more than an hour, relishing the role of trusted older advisor.

000-ooo-000

People gave way in front of the young man in the elaborate uniform. They recognized the trappings of his uniform and the bored, exasperated expression was familiar to those who often dealt with top ranked royalty. He was accompanied by a well-dressed, very pretty blonde assistant.

"_Are you sure this will work?" he'd asked Emma. Jefferson had been decked out in a navy uniform with multiple insignias indicating royal ranking. _

"_Absolutely not," said Emma, who had opted for a conservative expensive looking dress. "You understand what you have to do?"_

"_Sure, that part's easy. I just don't know if anyone will believe I'm a prince."_

They had arrived at Dr. Steiner's laboratory.

"The prince is here at the request of King Maurice," Emma spoke on his behalf (as if he was too good to talk with them himself). "He is not satisfied with the care his daughter is being given and is requesting that she be taken and placed in one of the Windsor hospitals under the care of his cousin's physicians."

"But I can assure you," Dr. Steiner began. "she is getting the best of care. I know more about her condition. . ."

Jefferson interrupted the doctor, addressing Emma, "Is this going to take long? Mama had assured me that it would only take a moment for me to pick up Cousin Belle and I would be back on my way. I have people waiting on me."

Emma whispered to him in a voice just loud enough for Steiner to overhear. "I'm sure your royal highness that once Dr. Steiner understands the urgency of the situation that he will cooperate."

Steiner caught 'the royal highness' and knew by implication that this was not just any member of any royal family.

Emma turned back to the doctor. "Dr. Steiner. If it would help, I can take your contact information so that her new physicians will be able to get in touch with you to discuss the particulars of the case," Emma was making every attempt to persuade the doctor, to try to let him out of the situation with dignity.

Jefferson gave an audible sigh, "Much longer?" He'd managed to sound supremely bored.

Emma looked at the doctor who wavered, then caved. "All right. She is in the middle of a treatment right now. It would not be good to stop it."

"Let me see," Emma insisted and accompanied Steiner back to the treatment room.

Fortunately Belle was mostly out and didn't given any sign of recognizing Emma or Jefferson. Emma demanded that she be carried out, with the treatment solution and infusion needle still connected to her. "Give me directions for the course of this treatment and I will be sure she completes it." She was brusque and sounded enormously competent. Dr. Steiner was backing down.

"I really need to confirm this with the Admiral," Steiner managed one last effort at stopping them from taking Belle.

Jefferson spoke up. "I don't want to be delayed any longer. My good man, this has not been cleared with the Admiral because King Maurice knew she would object. That's why he called my family in. If you want to delay us, rest assured the outcome will be the same. We will take Belle, but my family will take a dim view of your interference. I wouldn't be surprised if your career skidded to a halt. I doubt the Admiral would be willing to take the fall for delaying me."

Steiner completely folded. "I don't agree with this. It is dangerous for the princess. But if this is her father's wish, then it is on his head," he managed to gasp out, shifting responsibility for Belle's welfare..

"Understood sir," Emma nodded. She had some of _The Dark Wind_''s crew carry out Belle while she trailed after, carrying the infusion medication herself. They quickly walked out of the Admiral's ship and into their own, dark carriage. The driver, another of _The Dark Wind's _ crew started up the engine and they rode away.

Emma and Jefferson sat in the carriage with Jefferson cradling Belle.

"Have you had any experience removing an IV?" Emma asked Jefferson.

"Actually I have," Jefferson replied. "Think I should go ahead or wait for Dr. Hopper's expertise?"

"I'm saying go ahead. Every minute that poison pours into Belle, they are both in agony," Emma counseled.

Jefferson nodded in agreement and carefully removed the IV, wrapping Belle's arm in one of his handkerchiefs.

"She'll probably be out until the sleeping medication wears off," Jefferson told Emma. He sat back, holding onto the semi-conscious Belle as they rode in the enclosed carriage back to Mary's castle compartments.

As Jefferson carried Belle into Mary's rooms, Emma observed, "I don't know how safe this is. We probably need to get out of town as soon as we can."

"Not without Gold," Jefferson said.

"Of course not. But I'm not sure what steps to take to get him. Dr. Hopper's not even sure where they might be keeping him. He does think it's somewhere deep in the castle."

Emma eyed Belle. "I wonder if she'll be able to help us when she regains consciousness. They have a very strong connection."

00-00-00-00-00-00

Belle struggled back to the light of day. _Where was she? Things didn't look familiar. How long had she been out? _

_She wasn't in pain. _

_She was nauseated._

"Belle, Belle," she heard someone calling her.

"I think she's starting to wake up."

"Belle sweetheart. You're going to be all right. We got you away from Dr. Steiner. We've stopped the Treatment." It was Mary.

Belle registered the words. _She remembered snippets. She had been held down, drugged. She had been restrained. There was a journey. She remembered the cell and the visit from the Admiral. She remembered being restrained again and drugged again. She remembered the hard table they had strapped her to. More drugs. Made her sleepy. Then the infusion with pain filtering in through the sleep. More drugs. Then, thank heavens, everything went dark. _

"Where's Gold?" she managed to ask. "Is he all right?"

"He's going to be." It was Emma.

_That's nice. Mary and Emma know each other. She didn't realize they knew each other. When had that happened? She closed her eyes to go back to sleep. As long as Gold was all right, she could sleep._

"We've got to wake her up," someone said.

"Not the best idea. She'll start to vomit when she's awake. It's not good."

"She's the only one that can help us."

"Try a cold wet cloth." It was a man's voice.

Belle felt something on her face. It was not comfortable. A woman's voice spoke firmly to her. "Belle, Belle, we need you to wake up a moment."

"Wh. . .wh. . .why?" she stammered out.

"We think that Gold is prisoner somewhere in your father's castle. Would you have any idea where they might be holding him?"

Her thinking felt fluffy. Ideas were hard to hold onto. There was pain and nausea. There was Gold. He was nearby. She could sense him, his warmth, She remembered his wonderful kisses. His wonderful hands and what he would do to her. Prisoner? Gold was a prisoner? They were in her father's castle?

_Yes, yes, she could definitely feel him. He was nearby. He was here._

_He was in dark. It was dark and cold. It was dark and cold and wet._

She managed to open her eyes. She could make out Mary and Nolan, Emma and Jefferson. Maybe some others. "He's here in the castle," she stated it as a fact.

"Yes, dear," it was Emma firmly questioning her. "Where in the castle? Are there dungeons here? Where would they have stashed him?"

Belle thought and thought and fell back asleep at least once. "The flood chamber," she finally murmured out. "It's at the very bottom of the castle. I've been there but I wasn't supposed to go. It's not safe. Dark and wet."

She went back to sleep.

"We don't know if she's right," Jefferson observed pessimistically.

"But it's a start. There can't be too many people involved in this. Admiral Gorim doesn't trust too many people," said Mary.

At that moment, Dr. Hopper and Booth came in. "We kept her as long as we could," Dr. Hopper said and then he saw Belle. "Oh, I see you were successful."

"We all were. Mary and I will be married here in about three weeks if King Maurice has his way," shared Nolan. "And here's Miss Belle. Dr. Hopper, we need her awake. Can you help?"

He knelt by her. "My guess is Victor gave her Rieveschl's Serum. It makes you sleepy and helps to control vomiting. I may have some extract from the calabar bean that could help. Get me my medical bag, please."

Ooooo-OOOO-ooooO

Dr. Steiner had run the way back to Admiral's Gorim office. He burst in without waiting for an aide to announce him. The Admiral was sitting with Captain Jones. He was collecting his final payment for the use of his ship and his own part in helping with taking Gold prisoner.

"They've taken her," Steiner said without preamble.

The Admiral knew immediately what was happening, "Princess Belle? How?"

"They sent someone in who was working for her father. They took her away after I had just started treatment. They told me that you had not been informed because that was the wish of her father."

"Someone came and rescued the little piece of fluff that Gold was interested in?" Jones asked. He quickly had suspicions. "Tell me, what did they look like?"

"A tall, young man with curling hair and a very pretty blond woman," came Steiner's terse description.

Jones smirked and turned to the Admiral. "Sounds like Jefferson, Gold's first mate, and Emma Swan, who used to be my first mate before she went over to Gold."

The Admiral sighed. She was not pleased. _Gold's crew was clearly in operation here. It was possible that they had connected with Nolan. That could mean trouble. Gold would be their next target. _

"Get your equipment together," she directed Steiner. "We are going to begin the treatment on Gold immediately." _She had hoped to force him to suffer alongside Belle, but that wasn't an option now. Her original plan had been to start his treatment once he was weakened by his contact with Belle and the ramifications of her treatment. Things would have to change, now._

Dr. Steiner nodded. "I'll get the nanocide and some Rieveschl's Serum."

She stopped him. "The Serum won't work on him."

"But how will we manage him? He will rip out the IV if he's not sedated."

"We'll have to restrain him," she was already out the door. "Meet me by his cell, as soon as possible. Jones, you come with me. I may need your help."

**A.N. Thanks to all my "regular" reviewers: DruidKitty, The Prince's Phoenix, Hermitess, Ying-Fa-dono and a special thanks to Attracted2Insanity (a new reviewer on this story).**

**Your thoughts and insights are always appreciated**

_NEXT: Gold's turn for Treatment _

_And Repercussions_


	12. Demise

_Gold and Belle have been taken prisoner by the Vice-Admiral who intends to subject both of them to the brutal nanocide treatment. Gold has been told that Belle's role, all along, has been to deceive him and precipitate his capture. Devastated and defeated, Gold now awaits his fate. _

_But Gold's crew has remained constant and faithful and, at Jefferson's suggestion, Emma has been successful in contacting Princess Mary. Working with Mary, Emma also re-connects with her First Love but continues to feel abandoned by the man (despite his explanation of having been abruptly sent into active duty). Working with Captain Nolen, Cassidy, Booth, Hopper and Mary, Emma develops a plan to rescue Belle. She arranges for members of their party to distract King Maurice and the Admiral while using Jefferson as a royal stand-in. Jefferson, pretending to be a member of the royal family, and Emma are successful in coercing and intimidating Dr. Steiner into releasing the little princess who has just begun The Treatment._

**Falling**

**Chapter 12**

**Demise**

Gold was not feeling quite as badly as he had anticipated. There had been some pain but that seemed to be fading. _This was different from last time. What had changed?_

The physical pain at least was diminishing.

The mental pain was still playing loudly.

A most unusual sensation, he kept drifting off to sleep. He welcomed sleep. It was less painful than being awake.

But then he'd had the Falling Dream again. And again. And again.

Falling, falling, falling.

It was terrifying, like re-living his own death.

Except for that first night with Belle, he had been free of the Dream. For the few nights he'd spent with the little princess he'd been free. Now she was gone. And The Dream was back.

He was lying on his mattress, not awake, not asleep. He was aware of them when they came in to his cell. Four burly men, wearing gloves, breathing masks and goggles. They carried lights and the room was abruptly lit up brightly, temporarily blinding him. The men restrained his arms and put some type of rubberized cloth around his mouth. They then put a blindfold on him. He felt them lifting him up and carrying him outside his cell. He was tied down on to a wooden table that had been wheeled in. He could just barely turn his head, but nothing else was usable. His legs, his body, both arms, his chest, were all tied down. There was even a restraint around his neck. He was securely tied down.

He was effectively immobilized

And absolutely helpless.

He could hear people moving around. Equipment was being brought into the chamber. He could hear voices but not make out what was being said.

The wait was interminable.

"I've waited a long time to see you taken down."

He recognized this voice.

It was Hook.

"You always got away with the best pickings, the best deals, the best women. Having you out of the picture will leave so much more for me."

Gold wasn't able to respond.

"The Admiral recruited me to help out along with that royal princess. Hope you had fun with the little cunt. I'd never met a woman more determined to get revenge on a man. She was ready to do anything to make you pay for what you did to her, even if it involved fucking your brains out." There was a pause. "You know, I would never have predicted that it would have been a little piece of ass, even a fine, little piece of ass, that finally took you down, but I guess you've always had a weakness for sweet talking, lying sluts. First Milah, and now, what was this one's name? Belle?"

Gold forced himself to lie still, to lie absolutely still while his anger built and simmered and turned red hot within him.

_Bitch, the little lying bitch! If by some miracle he survived this, he would find her if he had to take the earth apart stone by stone. He would take personal revenge on his little princess, slow, exquisite, personal vengeance on the little lying whore. If she had thought her life was ruined by his kiss. . . well he would make her wear his collar in earnest. He'd keep her in his quarters and use her repeatedly and in every manner he could. He could enjoin the nanobytes within her to rise and fall according to his whim so that she would be helpless, kept in the throes of passion but only satisfied when she had pleased him sufficiently. She would be forced to beg him for his attention, to serve his every dark desire. The thought of her lying naked and helpless beneath him was a most sustaining image. He would use this to get through what was coming._

He knew what was coming.

He felt the needle go into his arm.

It was his turn for Treatment.

But then. . .

quieter voices spoke within him.

_No, no, he knew he wouldn't go after her. It would hurt too much to see her again. As much as he might want revenge on her treachery, he wouldn't take it. He couldn't take it. _

The poison began to seep into his system.

_He __**had**__ ruined her life. He wasn't worthy of her. What had he been thinking? To debauch an innocent young woman, a beautiful girl who'd had everything before her. He had ruthlessly taken her virginity and now no man would want her after she had been with him. He had thought she was so beautiful and she had been so responsive. He had believed her response was real. What a fool, a self-deluding fool he had been._

And now the pain level began to climb.

The nanobytes had begun to scream.

000-ooo-000

Belle had pulled herself up and into a waking state, thanks a great deal to Dr. Hopper's concoction made from the calabar bean and the bunn cherry. She still felt badly, very badly, but she had learned that Gold was the prisoner of the Admiral and was in grave danger. They were going to subject him to The Treatment.

She knew it would be much, much worse for him.

They had to rescue him.

They had to save him.

She had fallen in love with the man. She knew that now. As strange as it was, she had accepted that their instantaneous attraction to each other was a manifestation of that love. She believed, she wanted to believe, she had to believe that he had fallen in love with her too.

Belle was up, leading them down to the Flood Chamber. She was not entirely awake, not entirely focused, but was absolutely intent on saving Gold. She had told the others that she could _feel _ Gold. She knew right where he was. She talked urgently to Nolan giving him directions as they went down the dark, damp hallways. No one was in this part of the castle. It was closed off and hadn't been used for years. She knew about it because, as she explained it to Nolan, she had been a curious child and had explored every nook and cranny of the castle, even the supremely creepy parts.

But then. . .

Belle went down first, screaming for a moment, collapsing and then whimpering. The others crowded around her, unsure of what had just happened.

"Is this some type of delayed response to the treatment?" Nolan asked Hopper.

"I don't think so. She was recovering nicely. I'm afraid. . . " Hopper didn't finish.

"They're doing Gold," Emma said. "People that have his nanobytes are going to be feeling what he's feeling. They're probably going to start to go down, those with the most nanobytes will go first."

Nolan looked at Hopper, who nodded. "Then I guess we need to hurry. But without her to guide us, how will we know where to go? This place is too big for us to try to find him, even if we split up."

Jefferson took a deep breath. "I can help. I can feel him now. He's not far away, but I don't know these passages. I can just point us at him, but I won't know for sure which way to go," Jefferson paused and quietly shared, "and I carry Gold's nanobytes, too. Quite a few of them. I don't know how much time I will have before I go down."

"Then let's go," Nolan said, and without any urging, Booth picked up Belle's slight figure and the group continued on through the dark, damp passageways of the castle's basement.

They continued to go downward into the very depths of the mountain the castle had been built upon. They moved quickly with a sense of urgency.

But they didn't have enough time.

Jefferson suddenly stopped. He leaned up against the wall. He began to gasp but managed to pull himself together briefly and take a few more steps. He motioned, "He's in that direction." Then he dropped, crumbling to the floor, going down to his knees. "Leave Belle here with me. We'll be fine as soon as you can stop the treatment," he gasped out at them.

Emma knelt by him, "What are you feeling?" she asked him.

Jefferson managed to get out, "Pain, a great deal of pain." The others tried to support him but he wasn't able to stay on his knees. "I can feel it. They're treating Gold. What you had said Emma, all of us who are connected with him, we're all feeling it. The more of his nanobytes, the more we feel what he's feeling. Belle went down first, because she probably has the most of everyone."

Emma looked both Jefferson and Belle over. "They aren't going to be any good to us, right now. Gold was incapacitated when they went after Belle. If his people respond the same way, his entire crew is down. . ."

Nolan grimaced, "Not to mention any number of government figures, royal house members and whoever else he's contaminated."

Emma reeled suddenly. Cassidy caught her. She glared at him and pulled herself away, only to stagger again. "That son of a bitch! I'm going to save his ass, so I can punch him in the face," she said and, to no one in particular, clarified, "He'd told me he'd taken them all out, but apparently I still have some within me."

"Are you going to be all right?" Mary asked her. She had quickly grown to like the confident pirate officer.

"If it doesn't get any worse than this, I can manage," she managed to get out. "Let's find a place to stash these two and we'll go on. I think I'm beginning to sense where he is, so I can help find him."

Nolan nodded. Well certainly, neither Jefferson nor Belle were in any shape to keep going. Both were now lying on the cold floor of the basement corridor, writhing. They managed to help get them out of the main corridor into a sort of side chamber.

They walked as quietly as they could using only the light of a single lantern. Right now, their best hope was in surprise and they didn't want to alert anyone that they were coming. Cassidy was there to offer support to Emma and, finally, for once, she didn't pull away from him. Her pain level was obviously increasing, but she was able to help them decide which direction to go each time they came to a decision point. At Booth's suggestion, they placed a marker so that they would be able to find their way back out _assuming they would be alive to find their way back out. _

But hell, thought Nolan. _If he were the Admiral, he'd be expecting them. _

As they moved along the dark hallways, Nolan did begin to question himself. _Now why are we doing this? Risking our careers to save a notorious pirate, cutthroat, thief and whatever else he'd done? Oh yeah, it was the right thing to do. Bring Gold to proper justice, not this vigilante crap. And find out what the Admiral's game was. Was she, as Cassidy was suspecting, also infused with nanobytes, her very own nanobytes and wanted Gold, her primary threat, removed. Had she tried and survived the vat?_

They heard before they saw. Nolan, in the lead, motioned for everyone to slow and then stop.

It was clearly Dr. Steiner talking. "It may be possible to sedate him after a couple of hours of treatment. Once we reduce his nanobyte population, the others may not be able to neutralize the other drugs. So much restraint may not be necessary. I am concerned that he may hurt himself if he keeps spasming."

"Well then, try the Serum every half hour or so. How long do you anticipate this first treatment will need to be?" It was the Admiral's voice.

"His level of nanobytes is too high to count. Many, many times that of the princess. And his system fights for him. I kill a thousand and he replaces them with ten thousand. I increase the nanocide and he increases the nanobytes. They are neutralizing the nanocide nearly as fast as I can put it into him."

"Then put it into him faster," the Admiral directed him. "Double it up if you have to."

"I don't know if he will be able to survive it then," said Steiner.

"Do it," she commanded.

Steiner adjusted one of his machines that controlled the nanocide infusion rate. They could hear it whining now. From a series of nine syringes, he inserted a second vial into the machine that was feeding into Gold. Emma clutched at Cassidy, her pain level obviously increasing. She took a moment to right herself.

They could hear a groan and they assumed it was Gold. But then, they heard the Admiral ask, "What's wrong with you?"

"I'm in some pain. I don't understand. It started when his treatment was increased."

Emma motioned to Nolan and whispered, "Hook. That's Captain Hook. He was the one who brought Belle to Brookeport and sold her to Gold." She thought a moment. "Gold infected him when he gave him the money for Belle." She managed to smile. "Almost worth it," she murmured.

They continued to listen. It was the Admiral talking.

"He must have infected you at some point," she explained. "I doubt you have too many in you, you would have felt it earlier in the treatment."

Hook was moaning. "I can't stand this. The pain is terrible. I can't believe that bastard finally got me."

"You'll be fine," the Admiral told him callously. "You probably have just a few of them in you."

"I don't know. This is unbearable. Don't you have something you can give me while the treatment is going on?" Hook complained. "You knocked Belle out when you were treating her."

There was a pause and they heard the Admiral say, "Get him something. I don't want to have to listen to him."

This was their best moment, their best chance of moving in during the distraction of sedating Hook. Nolan had heard enough. "Admiral," he said stepping around the corner and into the light. "I'm arresting you for war crimes. This is torture which violates the Hague Conventions." Emma had followed him into the room.

The Admiral didn't say anything immediately. She had turned and stood a moment looking at the young captain. "You can't stop me Nolan. Don't you understand? Gold and his people are the enemy and need to be dealt with swiftly and completely. They represent a plague against humanity. If he's not stopped, we will all become his pawns." She raised her gun to fire on Nolan. She pulled the trigger but Nolan dove and her shot went wild. He pulled his own weapon and fired back.

There was the flash of his Tesla gun, but the Admiral didn't fall.

"So it's true," Nolan said. Just like the reports they'd had on Gold, the weapon had had no impact on her.

Emma was in the shadows of the room now, moving ever closer to the Admiral.

"Quite right, Captain Nolan. I spent two years with that damned nanobytes vat, feeding and talking with the little bastards and when I went in, I survived. I didn't come out quite a powerful as he did, probably because I wasn't at death's door when I went in, but I came out quite powerful, nonetheless. It's going to take a lot more than a Tesla gun to take me down."

"How about a couple of these?" It was Emma. She had managed to walk, quietly through the back shadows of the room, despite her pain, and had picked up two of the syringes marked for Gold's treatment. She had gotten close enough and was able to force them into the Admiral, pushing down on the plungers. The Admiral went down. Simultaneously, Dr. Steiner also dropped. He did start to pull a gun on Emma and Nolan fired into him, stilling him.

"Hurts like hell, doesn't it," Emma commented to the Admiral and drew her own weapon, a simple pistol. She fired three shots into the Admiral's head, execution style, and, this time, Admiral Reul Gorim went down.

"Get him unplugged," Emma ordered, motioning at Gold. Immediately Dr. Hopper was on it, turning off the nanocide, then removing the IV needle. He began to remove the restraints on Gold, taking off the blindfold, the gag and then removing the straps that tied the man to the table.

"What the hell did you shoot her with?" Nolan had to ask Emma, even with everything else going on.

"Oh, I did some research, probably the same research you did, except I went further. You know how he can't sense gold or silver, mostly because they're not magnetic. Well he can't make quick repairs against them either. I saw him prick himself with a gold pin and it bled for awhile and didn't heal up immediately. Gold seems to be the hardest for Gold to manage. I took a chance she was the same way and commissioned a couple of gold bullets. Kinda like shooting a werewolf or a vampire."

"A what or a what?" Nolan was not following her.

"Mythical creatures that can only be killed certain ways, like with silver or cutting their heads off or driving a holly stake through the heart."

"All right," Nolan was not exactly following her.

Emma had moved over to be at Gold's side. "Captain, wake up. We've rescued you. You're going to be all right."

Gold struggled to sit up. He regarded Emma and took in the carnage around him. Reul's body, Steiner's body, the pretty brunette princess, Captain Blue-Eyes and several others he didn't know. He leaned against Emma. "It doesn't matter," he whispered to her.

"Like hell it doesn't," she told him.

"Part of me wants to die, Emma" he confessed to her. "No reason to keep going. The poison in my body. It's working still. It's working, killing my friends, my children," he murmured.

"Well, we need to make it stop. Come on," she helped him up. At a glance, both Booth and Cassidy came over to help her.

"Let's get him out of here."

Nolan was looking around. "Where's Hook?"

The company looked around but the slippery pirate captain was nowhere to be found.

Emma led them back, with Booth and Cassidy essentially carrying Gold's limp body. Nolan and Emma walked behind them. Dr. Hopper delayed while he found Jefferson and Belle, both slowly recovering, and walked them back at a slower pace, following but not walking with the larger group.

Emma and Gold's group made their way back to Mary's quarters. Emma supported Gold and had him sit in a comfortable chair. "Let me get you something, sir. I know they can't have been feeding you."

"I'm fine, Emma. Thank you," he waved her off.

Mary and Nolan watched him. This didn't seem like the most dangerous man on the planet. He was still dressed in the grey prison/hospital shift and was shoeless. At the moment, he seemed kind and gentle and. . . a bit defeated.

"Jefferson will be coming and Belle is with him."

Gold sat up. "I don't want to see her," he said and started to get up. "I'll be going now, thank you everyone."

Emma pushed him back down into the chair. "You aren't going anywhere. You're weak as a kitten."

He stood back up. "Emma, I'm going. I don't want to see Belle again. It's for her own good. I see her and I'm likely to kill her. She's better off without me in her life." He began limping out. "I'm going back to my ship." He stopped at the door and turned back to Emma, "Where did you park it?"

"Not telling. You're going to rest here first," Emma was just as stubborn as he was. "Mary," she turned to Mary, "Do you have a bedroom he can rest up in?"

"Yes," Mary nodded. It was her own bedroom but she supposed this would be all right, well, for a short while. She led Emma and Gold back to her sleeping chambers. Emma insisted the man lie down. She sat with him a while and Mary left them alone.

It wasn't long afterwards when Hopper led Jefferson and Belle in. They were both still woozy and wobbly.

Belle hugged Mary and Nolan. "Thank you, thank you. I'm so glad to see you both. Dr. Hopper told me what happened. So Vice-Admiral Gorem was behind this whole thing?

"She apparently had her own nanobytes infestation and was slowly contaminating people, Dr. Steiner being her primary minion. Hopper had surmised that she wanted Gold out of the picture so that she could expand. She knew she couldn't come up against him successfully and knew that if she tried to make a move to take things over that he would come forward and come up against her. I've got to get back to the Ministry to report what went down and try to clean up this mess. Cassidy, Booth, Dr. Hopper, you three, come with me."

The four men left Mary's compartments to make their reports. This left Jefferson and Belle in the living area with Mary. Emma and Gold were still in the back room.

Belle looked around, "Dr. Hopper said you had rescued Gold. Where is he?"

Mary looked pained. "Belle, he is not doing well right now. Emma is with him." _She didn't want to tell Belle that Gold had not wanted to see her._

Belle was frantic, "How is he? I've got to see him. Where is he?"

Mary put her arm around Belle. "Emma's taking care of him. You need to rest yourself." She helped her sit back down. "Let me get you something to drink. How about some hot tea?"

Jefferson looked up, "Some for me please." Mary looked back at the man. She knew him.

He smiled at her, apparently not doing quite so poorly. "Would you make me some tea if I apologized for holding a gun to your head during that little visit on the _French Queen_?"

Mary found herself smiling back at the man. _Oh yes, ever the charming gentleman thief. _"All right."

"I like mine with a bit of lemon," he added.

"You'll get it plain or with cream and sugar," she told him.

"Cream and lotsa sugar then, please." He called to her.

Belle was morose. "Why won't they let me see him, Jefferson? Has he been injured? What's wrong with him?"

Jefferson shrugged. "I've known him a while Belle. He gets into moods from time to time. You have to give him some space."

"But I thought. . . I somehow thought that he and I. . . well I thought that maybe we had something between us, something. . .special," she struggled to get her feelings out.

Jefferson sat back. This was certainly the prettiest and nicest girl his Captain had ever linked up with. And he'd stayed with her, well he had stayed with her for more than one night. He did seem to have had something special with her. Something had changed for him. Jefferson had thought that maybe this girl was different. His captain had smiled more than he had ever known him to. He had seemed so relaxed, so, well, the man had seemed happy.

"Belle, Emma will let us know what's going on. She wants the best for him too. She'll find out what's wrong."

**A.N. Of course special thanks to all my wonderful (insightful) reviewers: Hermitess, (anonymous) Guest, The Prince's Phoenix, Ying-Fa-dono, Attracted2Insanity, Booth ****Seeley Booth, and ****Grace5231973. Your comments really help with the details of story development and allow me to create nuances that might not otherwise happen (i.e. you make me a better writer – thx).**

**And to anyone interested: I am beginning work on a romantic (maybe a little comedic) Rumbelle set in a modern-day city (a damaged, relationship-shy Gold comes to southern town for rest and relaxation, meets a young, free-spirited bookshop owner and mayhem ensues). I haven't got the title yet (sometimes the title comes first, sometimes it comes last – in this instance it's definitely coming last). Right now my best title contenders are "Fourteen" and "Out of the Ashes." Haven't finished mapping out all the ins and outs just yet, but should be happening soon. txm**

_NEXT: THE FINAL CHAPTER in which_

_Emma will work to convince Gold of Belle's innocence _

_And Gold will struggle to accept Belle's love_

_(and a little side story with Hook getting a small piece of comeuppance)_


	13. Fallen

_The wicked Admiral has come to her just deserts and both Gold and Belle have been rescued through the combined efforts of Gold's crew and Nolan's cohorts. _

_Gold has enmeshed himself in the Admiral's words that Belle was working for her and wanted him captured. Initially Gold had wanted revenge but now, awash in self-pity and grief, he has decided that it would be best all around to just walk away from the little princess. _

**FALLING**

**Chapter Thirteen**

**Fallen**

Emma was trying, trying hard to find out what was wrong with Gold. He was adamantly refusing to see Belle. Emma finally, finally got from him that he had decided that it was for Belle's own good.

"You decided that?" she asked him.

"I ruined her life," he managed to get out, not looking at her. "My selfish act of kissing her ruined. her. life. I just thought she was beautiful and rich and spoiled and it was a big joke but then I couldn't stop thinking about her and I had to see her again and she was so responsive and so sweet. Damn, I turned you down, and you're an excellent piece, because I was thinking about her. And when I saw her with Jones, so beaten down and pitiable, I wanted to punch him out but instead, I bought her, like a slave girl, and took her back to my house and I treated her. . . dishonorably."

The man looked anguished. He stopped a moment to pull himself together," I took her virginity, Emma, I took her over and over and had her do things a man might hesitate to ask an experienced prostitute to do. I ruined. her. life. The woman hates me. She has to hate me."

"She told you that?" Emma asked.

He didn't say anything.

"Oh, so she has never said she hated you. You just kinda . . . goooot . . . . that she hated you?" Emma looked disgusted.

"Emma, she helped Reul Ghorm, the Admiral, track me down. She was ready to endure terrible pain to get her vengeance against me. How could she love me, Emma? How can any woman love me?"

Emma abruptly punched Gold in the nose.

He grasped his nose, pressing his nostrils together as blood came pouring out. _The nanobytes were not there to stop it. _"What the hell did you do that for?" he asked her speaking between his hands and fingers as he tried to staunch the bleeding.

"I almost forgot, I owed you that for leaving some of your nanobytes in me. And it's also for Belle. You are a brilliant man, Gold, but you're being incredibly stupid and gullible. Belle didn't betray you! Let me try to keep this simple so that you will understand. The Admiral lied to you, you jerk. Belle is in love with you, crazy, stupid in love with you, maybe, but in love with you nonetheless. Understand this: if you walk away from her, it's you walking away from her, not her leaving you. If you walk away, you'll be left with nothing but an empty heart."

"And a chipped cup," he added morosely.

"A what?"

"I chipped a cup the second time I was with her. I took it as kind of a memento. I'd have that."

Emma rolled her eyes and sighed, "OK, a chipped cup and an empty heart. If that's all you want, then fine. But you could have it all if you'd just be brave enough.

"I've never been brave, Emma. I've always been a coward," he told her.

"Well stop that. Get your tight little ass out there and tell her how you feel about her. If she dumps you because you're a loser and a user then so be it, but give her the chance to dump you. For once in your life do the brave thing, be the brave one."

"You think the Admiral was lying to me?" he asked plaintively.

Emma fell back on the bed. "Oh dear god! You're a bloody idiot! Don't, don't you dare throw away a chance at love. It's rare enough that love comes into anyone's life. Don't push it away." Emma sat up and took a few deep breaths. "You decide. I'm washng my hands of you. I have my own messed-up life to straighten out."

She left him.

Gold considered what she had said. Emma was right. Belle deserved the chance to tell him what a monster he was. She deserved the chance to tell him to go to hell. He took a deep breath and went on out into Mary's living area.

Belle had watched Emma storm out of Mary's bedroom without speaking to anyone. Emma went directly outside and Belle could see her pacing on the balcony. Jefferson had gone into the kitchen to get more tea from Mary who was also still in the kitchen.

So Belle was sitting alone in Mary's living area. She sensed him before she saw him, like she had so many other times. A quiet powerful presence. She turned, her eyes stopping on his feet, still bare from his incarceration. Then she saw a man's legs with muscled calves, and then the bottom of the grey shift hospital robe he had been put into. Her eyes rose to his. He had never looked better to her.

She got up and ran over to him, "Darling. I thought something terrible had happened to you."

"It did," he confessed. "Oh Belle," he took her in his arms and held her. She hugged him back, just happy to be close to him.

"I was afraid they had hurt you," she told him.

He closed his eyes and turned away releasing her. "Belle, they did hurt me. I. . . I. . . I can't feel my friends, my children, the. . . uh. . the nanobytes anymore. They seemed to have accomplished their objective and killed them all."

Belle reached for him. "Is that so terrible? Are you so very different now?" she asked him.

"I can't do the things I did before, Belle. I'm ordinary, now. Someone a princess would never notice . . . or care about."

"Not a very clever princess then," Belle responded standing on tiptoes to try to kiss him on the mouth but he evaded her.

"Be serious Princess. Your father is likely to order me executed for defiling you. He's certainly not going to give us his approval for mar. . . for anything."

"What was that? I couldn't be sure, but was that a proposal?" Belle asked him, a teasing smile playing at the corner of her mouth.

He was stricken for a moment. _Belle couldn't be considering such a thing . . . not with him. _

"Of course not. Belle, I don't have any aspirations that a woman like yourself would ever consider someone like me. . . for anything," He backed away from her. "I'll be getting my things together and leaving before the good Captain Nolan gets back with the arrest order. Maybe, I'll have a chance to get away. You won't have to see me again. I'll be out of your life."

Something buzzed around his head and he swatted at it.

"I don't want you to go," Belle told him, reaching out for his hand.

"But why would you want me to stay?" he asked. He swatted at something again. _Persistent little bugger._

Belle took a deep breath. "Because I love you. I think I fell in love with you that first time we met, when our eyes locked together."

He shook his head, "I can't believe that. You were an innocent, young girl and I ruthlessly took advantage of you. You only think that. . ."

"I know how I feel," she interrupted him.

_Whatever was buzzing around him landed on his hand. _He lifted his hand. It was one of the tiny nanobytes he had sent out so long ago, so very long ago, to find Belle, to find where she slept and then to come back to him. There were several that had not returned to him. This was one of them.

He tipped the tiny machine into his palm and the construct began to come apart into its microcomponents. They buried themselves into his hand.

Belle watched in fascination as the nanobytes returned to him. This time when she tried to kiss him, he allowed it. She knew the myriad of nanobytes he had sent into her were responding to his distress and many that he had put into her were now returning to him.

"Captain, I didn't want to intrude, but I somehow felt that you needed to see me," it was Jefferson. He had come into the room. He held up his hand, showing them the back of his hand and they could see blood coming from his nails. And as if one of them had called to her, Emma had also come back into the room.

"I felt like I was being summoned back. It's the nanobytes, isn't it?" Jefferson asked, looking at his hands.

Gold held out his hand and wiped the blood from Jefferson. The blood seemed to seep into Gold. He looked in some wonder at both Jefferson and Belle.

Emma gave Belle a guilty look. "Belle, if you don't mind? I'm feeling a compulsion here," and she gave Gold a quick kiss on the mouth, returned nanobytes to him in the same manner that Belle had yielded them.

Three more of the little creatures buzzed around him and landed on his hand, disassembled and burrowed into him.

"They're coming back. I can feel them. So many of them are coming home to me." He told them in wonderment. He sat down, dizzy with the influx of nanobytes. It took him a moment before he was able to sit up.

"I still have got to get out of here," he announced. "Even if the Admiral is gone, the Ministry has a price on my head."

"Let's go then," said Jefferson and Belle together.

"I can't take you," Gold turned to Belle. "You belong at the castle with royal. . . stuff."

"I decide my fate. I'm going with you."

"Are you sure?" he asked her. "I didn't just sweep you off your feet?"

"Yes you did, but I am still sure."

"Then let's go, Captain," Jefferson told him, "before they come and arrest us."

The three were on their way out. Mary was there.

"Is everything all right?" Mary asked.

"I think this time the princess saved the prince," replied Jefferson, nodding at Belle and Gold.

"Not a prince," Gold was shaking his head. "I'm just an ordinary man who has fallen in love with an extra-ordinary woman and is lucky enough that she fell in love with him," he gazed at Belle for a moment, then collected himself, "Princess Mary, we've got to go. I don't want to put Nolan in a more difficult situation than he's already in. I apologize for what I'm about to do, but I want you to be blameless in this matter."

Gold then motioned to Jefferson, who nodded and then took a curtain sash and, in a swift movement, secured Mary's hands behind her and, sitting her in a dining room chair, used the ends to tie her into a chair.

Jefferson apologized. "I do seem to always be giving you a difficult time. But you will tell everyone how we overcame you after you thought we were all too ill to do anything, and then we took Belle and left." Once finished, he stood and motioned to Emma, "Let's go."

Emma stood a moment. Then she pulled off the other curtain sash. "You better secure me too, Jefferson. I think I may stay with them awhile to see if my life might have another path."

"Cassidy?" Jefferson asked her.

"Maybe. Maybe not. I'm going to take a chance." She looked at Gold. "I know now, that if I want to find you, I will be able to."

He grinned at her. "Sorry about leaving the nanobytes inside of you but I don't give up treasures easily. And you falling in my lap, as it were, that was too good to pass up." He let his hand graze the side of her face. "And you just have a few. You should be fine."

Emma looked at him and shook her head, "I just have a few? Liar."

Jefferson laughed at her and gently, as he had with Mary, restrained her. He tugged on the restraints that tied her into the chair.

"Are these secure?" he asked her. Emma nodded.

Kneeling behind her, Jefferson slowly brought his hands around to the front of the chair and to her waist. He deliberately allowed his hands to caress upwards, touching, cupping the bottom of her breasts. Emma shifted but had no where to go. His hands came up to her breasts and his fingers wrapped around each firm mound, gently, ever so gently squeezing.

"You realize that at some point, I'll get free," Emma reminded him darkly. "Our paths could just possibly cross again and I would likely remember this."

Jefferson leaned in to her neck and traced his tongue up to her ear, teasing the earlobe. He was rewarded when Emma gave an involuntary shiver.

He chuckled. "I thought so. Emma. You would have so responded to me." He kissed her just behind her ear and slowly released her. "Totally worth it." He stood and joined Belle and Gold.

As the trio went out the door, Belle called back to them, "Thank you Mary, Thank you Emma. I'll let you know where we are and what's going on for us when we get settled."

00-ooo-oo-ooo-00

"What was decided?" Mary and Emma had both been rescued when Nolan and Cassidy returned later that afternoon.

"That the Vice Admiral was insane and exceeded her authority. Reports are just starting to come in, but apparently virtually none of the people she had identified as being pawns of Gold, members of royal families, members of governments and so forth, reacted to Gold's treatment, so we don't think they were his minions. I suspect they had been contaminated by her and she knew we wouldn't be able to tell between anyone Gold had contaminated and anyone she had. The Treatment did distinguish and since virtually none of them went down, I'm pretty sure they were her people. However the Ministry doesn't want it publicized that one of their top officials was not operating at full capacity, so we have had to come up with a cover story."

"Do tell," Mary asked him to continue.

"The Admiral was instrumental in the capture of the arch criminal Captain Gold and certain members of his crew. She was successful in neutralizing him and his powers so he no longer represents a threat to civilization but there was an audacious escape attempt and several people, including the Admiral and Dr. Steiner were killed during the escape."

"And what happened to Gold and his people?" asked Emma.

"They got away, after coming back to kidnap Princess Belle. An amazing man. Rumach Skinner, also known as Captain Gold." Nolan shook his head.

Emma smiled, "I suspect that we will not be hearing about him anymore. Captain Gold has played out his hand. The _Dark Wind_ will likely go to his crew and, with a little assistance, become a legitimate freighter. We will, no doubt, be hearing about some new eminent scientist or mathematician or writer even, his lovely wife and their eccentric friend at some point in the future."

"That would be best," agreed Nolan. "I see you've stayed behind, Emma. I'm glad. I'm looking for a new civilian assistant and you would fit the bill perfectly."

"I could be interested," Emma acknowledged cautiously.

Cassidy hesitantly approached Emma, "I glad that you did not go with them, too," he observed.

"No I thought I might hang around here a while. If it doesn't work out, I can always find them again and Gold or whatever name he's going by at that time, will help me out. He's a very good friend."

"I'm really glad you decided to stay. I was hoping that we might, maybe, see each other, on occasion. See if there's any forgiveness, any spark, anything?" Cassidy sounded hopeful.

"Maybe, on occasion," Emma told him.

ooooo-000-ooooo-000-ooooo

Emma was looking for a place to stay. Cassidy had urged her to consider sharing his quarters, but she had demurred. Much too early to move in with the man. She wasn't sure she wanted to renew their relationship even though he was clearly interested.

She thought that she might have found a place. It was above a little restaurant near the shipyards. She could walk to work at her new job with Captain Nolan. She could get food and prepare her own meals. She had gone out and bought herself two new outfits. She considered. Although she could still pack every possession she had into one bag, she was doing all right.

She had met Cassidy for an early supper one evening and, at Emma's invitation they had been joined by a Mr. and Mrs. Spinner. Emma's guests were dressed conservatively in tweeds and soft wools. Mr. Spinner was sporting a beard and now had dark brown hair, lacking the few grey streaks that Emma remembered from before. He wore glasses and the entire effect was to make him appear quite professorial. Mrs. Skinner had long blond hair which looked lovely with her bright blue eyes.

'Mr. Spinner' shared, "I'm looking at a few university jobs. Mathematics. I think the lifestyle will suit my wife."

"It won't be too quiet for you?" Emma had asked.

"Too quiet is good for a while," Spinner responded. "We are thinking along the lines of having a family."

Emma took a sip of wine. "How are your other. . . 'children'?"

"Growing daily. I've gotten infusions from several of my 'old acquaintances' and the ones I have are happily multiplying. I'm estimating it will take me more than a year to get back to where I was before. . . " He sighed. "I had several trillion of my children killed off. You don't recover from that overnight."

"But you will recover?" she persisted.

"I have every reason to believe. Every day in every way. . . I seem to be doing better, getting stronger, getting more in touch."

Mrs. Spinner reached over and gently touched her husband on his hand. He turned and smiled at her and he put his other hand on top of hers.

Cassidy proposed a toast, "Let's drink to getting more in touch." He raised his glass as did Mr. and Mrs. Spinner. Emma started to commit to the toast, but stopped. She seemed distracted.

"Is something wrong?" Cassidy asked his volatile girlfriend.

"I thought I saw someone," Emma responded. She kept looking, standing up to see better. "It's got to be him." She vaulted away from the table.

"What? Who?" Cassidy asked.

"Jones," Emma said tersely, calling back over her shoulder.

Mrs. Spinner also stood. "I'm in this too." And she and Emma took off together. Cassidy started to go after them, but Mr. Spinner put his hand on the Cassidy's arm.

"No, no, let the girls have their fun."

"But what if it turns out to be Jones?" Cassidy asked.

Mr. Spinner considered. "Well, it won't be pretty will it? The cringing, the screaming, what's likely to be a pretty serious beating. Poor guy. Eventually we'll need to notify the authorities so they can rescue the unlucky bastard."

As soon as he realized he was being pursued, Jones hopped on a quadro-cycle and took off. Emma and Belle did the same and were after him in a wild chase, across the air ship docks and on. Eventually their ride took them out of the town. They went a ways out of town, up and down hills. Belle was driving the vehicle and, as it caught up with Jones, Emma had pulled out her Gauss gun.

"Get me up closer to him, Belle," she shouted. She was able to level her gun at his tires and got a shot off. The first effort went wild. She tried again. Still did not connect. The third attempt hit.

Jones barely managed to keep his hands on the steering column of the vehicle as it began to spin out of control. He pitched off and landed with an umph on the ground. The quadro-cycle turned over and there was a brief, but intense controlled explosion. Emma and Belle were on him in a heartbeat. Emma had the gun ramped up to fire.

"Ladies, ladies, this was all a misunderstanding," he smiled at them from his back, looking up. "I never truly meant either of you any harm."

Belle nodded her head, "Of course not. Why would we have ever thought that you meant us harm? I mean you sold me into slavery and you sent Emma into the power of your worst enemy to be raped, after your attempts to have her had been foiled. How could we think that you meant us anything but the best of times?" Belle was standing closely, but not too closely, not trusting the pirate captain any further than she could see him.

"Oh but ladies, ladies, don't you see how everything worked out so well for you," he was doing his best to talk his way out of their wrath, always keeping an eye on Emma and the gun she had leveled on him. "Miss Belle, you've been united with the love of your life and you are looking exceptionally fine with the lovely blond hair. May I say how well it suits you. And Emma, Emma, now back with the Ministry, doing the work of the good, like you always wanted. And keeping company with a man who clearly adores you. If it hadn't been for me, perhaps none of this would've worked out."

Emma hesitated, "Maybe he's right," she said speculatively.

"Are you daft?" Belle was bewildered at Emma's new stance.

"No, I don't think so. Belle, he has a point."

"Now, Belle, you've got to agree that I didn't hurt you any when you were in my custody. And I did rescue you from that prison that you were being held in," he began to press his advantage with Belle.

Belle wavered, "Well. . . yeah, that's right," she agreed, reluctantly.

Jones was back on his feet, rubbing his elbow and backside which had taken the first, hard impact from the ground. "Then ladies, can all be forgiven?" he dared to sound hopeful.

"Uhmmmm," Emma considered, "I don't know. You always wanted a piece of me when I was your first mate."

"Well, things are different now," he agreed.

"Yeah, I have a gun on you."

"That you do, lass, that you do," he again agreed with her.

Emma walked around him, never lowering the gun, never taking her eyes off of him. She confessed, talking to Belle, "I prefer being the one in charge. And, in this instance, I'll admit to a little curiosity about what I might have missed."

Belle gave her half-smile. "Well, Emma, I've only ever been with one man. He's pretty good. . . I think. But I have nothing to compare him with."

Jones looked closely at the two women who were idly circling him. "Ladies," he began, "If I can be of any service?" he was smiling broadly, using every ounce of good looks and good will he could project.

Emma was still considering. "Well, I don't know. You were such an asshole when you were my captain."

"Aye, I was. I admit it. But now I'm a humble man who would be most eager to try to entertain a lady in any manner she might desire."

"Both of us?" Belle asked. "You think you could handle both of us?" She didn't sound convinced.

Jones grinned at her. "I would give it my upmost," he promised.

"Well. . ." Belle considered a bit longer. "Let's see what you've got," she told him.

"Emma?" he wasn't exactly sure what was being suggested.

"Yeah, let's see what you've got. You think you can take on both of us. I want to see some prodigious equipment. Rumors are that you are more than . . . adequate."

He bowed again. "That I am, madam, that I am." And he watched as Emma lowered the gun just a smidgeon and began, as the ladies had requested, to remove his clothing.

As he undressed himself, Belle began to remove her own jacket and began to unbutton her blouse revealing a gentle swell of bosom. She stopped a moment to admire the man who was watching her begin to undress.

Jones was lean and muscular, long legged, rippled stomach, a prime specimen of a man. His arousal was clearly evident as he dropped down to his underpants, the bulge pushing out upon the fine cotton of the shorts.

Emma smirked, "I don't think we're going to have to work to get him interested, Belle."

Jones blew her a kiss, "With one of you beautiful ladies I would be able and willing. With the two of you, I more than ready to do my best to satisfy.

Emma motioned with the gun at his genitals. "Let's see it all, please. I want to know exactly what I'll be getting."

He dropped his undershorts and stood in all his resplendent male glory, saluting the two women with his eagerness.

"What do you think Belle?" Emma asked.

Belle walked up near to the man. She appeared to be assessing him closely. In a throaty whisper she told him, "We're going to want a bit better place than this hard road bed. That hill over there appears to have some grass." She smiled at him. "Might make it a bit more comfortable for whoever is on the bottom."

Jones backed over to the grassy hill.

Emma said suddenly, "I have an idea." She pulled off the scarf that had gone around her waist, one that acted like a belt. It was only about two inches wide. She ripped it in half so that she had two pieces about eighteen inches each. "Belle, wrap it around his eyes and then tie his hands behind him."

"What?!" Jones was a bit wary of this new development.

"It will intensify the experience," Emma explained. "You will only be able to feel what's being done to you. Gold's had us both this way several times. I can heartily recommend it." Jones still seemed hesitant.

"Absolutely," agreed Belle. "I can't speak for Emma's experiences, but he's had me blindfolded and in restraints many times."

Jones shook his head, "That kinky bastard." But he glanced back at Emma who had raised the gun again. "But I'm willing to try it." He finally agreed and allowed Belle to secure his eyes and then, with somewhat less enthusiasm, allowed her to tie his hands. Belle tied them behind him.

"You'll have to give us a moment to get ready. We have to help each other get out of our corsets," Belle told him and ran her hand down his chest.

"Yes ma'am," Jones replied. "I'm willing and waiting."

Belle looked at Emma and nodded.

Belle began to quickly pick up Jones's shirt, pants, undergarments and boots and she put these into the boot of the quadro-cycle. Then she and Emma remounted the vehicle, started it up and began to drive themselves out to the road, leaving behind the naked man, bound and blindfolded.

And yelling obscenities at them.

They found Cassidy and Spinner still at the restaurant sharing a third glass of wine. The men stood for the women when they reentered.

"How did it go?" Spinner asked them.

"What you would expect. We chased him down," Belle answered.

"Kick his ass?" Cassidy asked.

"Nope, just left it bare-naked," Emma explained.

"And we tied his hands behind his back and had him blindfolded," added Belle.

"Shit," Spinner remarked and slightly shuddered. "Now I don't know that there aren't wild animals around, but I do know there's damn little traffic out that direction. Just how far out of town did you go?" asked Spinner.

Emma considered, "What? I'd say about ten miles. Gravel road for the most part."

"Isn't it supposed to get a bit chilly tonight?" asked Cassidy.

"I'd heard that," Belle responded blandly. "It could be uncomfortable if one didn't have the right clothing."

The two men looked at each other and Cassidy remarked to Spinner, "Now I understand, sir."

Emma leaned forward and asked him, "Understand what?"

"While you were away, Mr. . . . uh. . . Spinner lectured me on why women, if left to their own devices, are plenty capable and often men need to back off and let them handle things. I understand now. I'm very respectful, my dears. Very respectful."

000-000-000

"It's a letter, from Christ's Church, England," Mary announced. "From a Mrs. Stillwell."

Nolan instantly recognized the name. "So how are they doing?"

"Well, let's see," Mary began to read over the letter. "She just wanted to congratulate us on our marriage. Apparently it made all the papers, even over there" Mary looked up. "That was sweet."

"What else?" Nolan asked.

"Let's see, her husband, Dr. Stillwell has a job teaching mathematics at Oxford. They seem to be settling in. Their very good friend, Mr. Hatter, has started work at a bookstore. Oh, now this is nice. He's apparently met a very nice girl, Alice W. Land. They are hopeful that this may develop into something permanent."

"The mad Jefferson, settling down? That's to be seen," Nolan was less than hopeful.

"The right woman, my dear, the right woman," Mary admonished him.

"Anything else?"

Mary smiled. "She just wanted us to know that she's expecting a little bundle of joy, come Midsummer."

Nolan did some counting backwards. "It would have been conceived after the treatments. I think that's probably a good thing. Wonder what this kid will be like. I'd guess the nanobytes will be in his or her system from the get-go."

"I agree. Do you think I should write them back. We have some happy news too."

"I think so, darling. I think so." Nolan agreed.

_And their lives continued on (and what follows is idle speculation on what I might want to see happen for our heroes). _

_Probably a band of roving Pilates instructors eventually came across Jones and took him home with them and he spent his remaining days in servitude to a group of very bendy women. _

_The good Dr. Stillwell wrote scholarly papers on many subjects, mostly math and science as he and his lovely, intelligent wife produced all together four extraordinary children. Their very good friend Jefferson married his Alice and together they produced a lovely daughter. _

_Meanwhile Princess Mary and her Marquis eventually inherited his father's duchy and, after establishing that her step-mother was involved in criminal activity were able to depose her and take possession of Mary's homeland also. There were offspring for this couple but my crystal ball couldn't see how many._

_Emma and Cassidy did resolve their differences, although he was most distressed to discover that there was a son that had passed away from his hands. Fortunately after a lengthy search, they were able to locate the child in the foster care system and regain custody._

_I won't speculate on how many of these couples' children ended up together. (Personally, I've always thought that Grace and Henry would be a perfectly delightful match.) _

_Fin_

**A.N. Thanks to the many of my awesome reviewers who have been with me from the beginning of this tale and really helped out with story arcs and additional character explorations. So helpful and much appreciated. That's Attracted2Insanity, Grace5231973, Estrany, The Prince's Phoenix, DruidKitty, and Hermitess (you're absolutely right about the gold bullets, but I sidestepped the details here– actually figuring most people would be aware of that – certainly Emma would be). **

**A special thanks to new reviewer ZombiesloveMangoes and extra special thanks to TcEm who went berserk, read the story from the beginning and left nine reviews of different chapters! **

**Oh yeah, Out of the Ashes is up and running. Going to be fluffy, I think – I'm trying to stay away from too much angst right now. txm**


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